It is impossible to imagine Italian cuisine without risotto - a rice dish prepared using a completely unique technology. Risotto is considered a self-sufficient dish, and although Italians often make it with chicken or seafood, it does not require any additions. Moreover, many people prefer risotto with vegetables - the lightest and healthiest. In order to taste this dish, you don’t have to go to Italy or splurge on visiting an Italian restaurant - if you know some of the intricacies, any housewife can prepare risotto with vegetables in her own kitchen.

Cooking features

The technology for preparing risotto with vegetables has several specific features. You need to know them in order to prepare real risotto with vegetables, identical to what Italians cook.

• The most important thing is to choose the right rice for the risotto. Only varieties with a high starch content are suitable for this dish. The Italians themselves prefer varieties such as carnaroli, maratelli, vialone nano, and arborio. However, in practice, they can be replaced with Krasnodar short-grain rice, which is almost in no way inferior to these expensive varieties. But long grain rice is not suitable for risotto.
• Italians never wash rice intended for making risotto in order to preserve the starch on its surface.
• An important component of the dish is the onion, which is fried in a frying pan before the rice is added to it. It is important that it is chopped very finely and becomes transparent when fried. This can only be done if you fry the onion over low heat in enough oil.
• The rice is also fried at the first stage of cooking. This is necessary so that it retains its shape in the future and looks appetizing.
• At the second stage, dry white wine is almost always added to the rice, which is designed to balance the starchy taste of the risotto.
• At the third stage, warm water or, even better, broth is poured into the rice in small portions. Moreover, a new portion is added only after the previous one has been completely absorbed.
• At the last stage, finely grated hard cheese (for example, Parmesan), butter, and cream are most often added. However, these ingredients are not considered mandatory and are not always included in the recipe, so vegetarians can easily afford risotto with vegetables.

Risotto has been prepared in Italy for several centuries. During this time, many recipes appeared, quite different from each other. Therefore, when preparing this dish, you should first of all focus on the instructions in the recipe itself, and only in their absence should you be guided by the general rules.

Classic recipe for risotto with vegetables

• rice – 0.3 kg;
• vegetable broth – 1 l;
• onions – 0.2 kg;
• carrots – 0.2 kg;
• zucchini – 0.4 kg;
• garlic – 2 cloves;
• dry white wine – 100 ml;
• olive oil – 60 ml;
• butter – 50 g;
• fresh parsley – 50 g;
• fresh basil – 20 g;
• green peas (fresh or frozen) – 0.2 kg;
• Parmesan cheese – 50 g;
• salt, ground pepper - to taste.

Cooking method:

• Peel the onions and cut them into pieces as small as possible.
• Cut the peeled carrots into cubes about half a centimeter in size.
• Wash the zucchini, cut off the stalks. Cut into cubes about a centimeter in size. For risotto, it is better to take young zucchini, which do not have large seeds, and the skin is very thin and tender. If your zucchini is not too young, then you will have to peel it, cut it in half, remove the seeds with a spoon and only then cut it.
• Cut the garlic into small pieces.
• Heat 40 ml olive oil in a frying pan, fry half the onion and garlic. After 5-6 minutes, add carrots to them and fry them together for the same amount.
• Add zucchini and green peas. If the peas are frozen, there is no need to defrost them. Season the vegetables and add salt. Add finely chopped greens with a knife. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes. If necessary, you can add a little vegetable broth so that the vegetables do not burn, but simmer.
• In a clean frying pan, heat the remaining olive oil, mixing it with 10 g of butter.
• Add the remaining onion to the oil mixture. Fry it over low heat for 3-4 minutes.
• Add the rice to the onion and fry it for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
• Pour in the wine.
• Once the wine has evaporated, bring the rice to al dente by adding warm vegetable broth in small portions.
• Mix rice with vegetables, add finely grated cheese and remaining butter, mix well.

The dish should be served hot. If necessary, cheese can be omitted from the recipe and butter can be replaced with olive oil. Then the risotto according to this recipe will turn out to be vegetarian.

Risotto in a slow cooker

• rice – 0.2 kg;
• green beans – 100 g;
• zucchini – 100 g;
• sweet pepper – 100 g;
• green peas – 100 g;
• onions – 100 g;
• carrots – 100 g;
• tomato – 150 g;
• olive oil – 50 ml;
• vegetable broth – 0.5 l;
• salt, spices - to taste.

Cooking method:

• Wash the zucchini and peppers and cut into cubes. Mix with green peas and beans. If desired, you can use a ready-made frozen mixture; in this case, the vegetables do not need to be thawed before cooking.
• Remove the skin from the onion. Cut the onion into very small pieces.
• Pour boiling water over the tomato, peel and cut into cubes.
• Peel the carrots and chop them using a grater with small holes.
• Pour oil into the multicooker bowl and activate the “Frying” program for 10 minutes. If such a program is not provided, it can be replaced with the “Baking” program.
• A couple of minutes after turning on the unit, place the onions and carrots in the multicooker bowl. Fry them for about 5 minutes, then add the tomatoes and wait until the required time has elapsed.
• Pour the remaining vegetables into the multicooker bowl and run it for 15 minutes, selecting the “Stew” program.
• Fry the rice in a frying pan in a small amount of olive oil for 5 minutes, transfer it to the multicooker container with the vegetable mixture.
• Pour in the broth, add salt and pepper. Start the multicooker for 20 minutes by activating the “Rice” program or a similar one (“Pilaf”, “Porridge”).

You can serve risotto with vegetables as a separate dish or as a side dish for boiled fish.

Risotto with frozen vegetables

• rice – 0.2 kg;
• frozen vegetable mixture – 0.5 kg;
• paprika – 5 g;
• nutmeg – 2–3 g;
• salt, pepper mixture - to taste;
• olive oil – 50 ml;
• warm water – 0.75 l.

Cooking method:

• Dissolve salt in warm water, add pepper, paprika, and nutmeg. Stir.
• Pour oil into a deep frying pan and heat it. Place rice in it and fry it for 2-3 minutes.
• Pour in the vegetables without defrosting. Fry them for 5-7 minutes along with rice without adding water.
• Gradually, adding half a glass and stirring, add water. Do not forget that before pouring a new portion of water, you must wait until the previous portion is absorbed.
• When all the water has been absorbed, the risotto with frozen vegetables is ready and can be placed on plates.

Most often, Mexican vegetable mixture or sauté mixture is used to prepare risotto with vegetables.

Risotto with vegetables is a hearty but not heavy dish. It will certainly appeal to those who care about their health. If you can’t imagine lunch without meat or fish, risotto with vegetables can be used instead of a side dish.

Italian dishes are gaining increasing recognition in our country: ravioli, pasta, lasagna, frittata, not to mention pizza. Properly prepared risotto with vegetables can also be enjoyed almost every day. Moreover, on occasion, it is not a shame to put it on the holiday table.

There are several secrets to making truly classic risotto: real chicken stock, not cubes; saffron, which is responsible for the goldenness of the food; round rice “Arborio” or “Carnaroli” - with these varieties the finished dish resembles the consistency of cream, but still the rice remains quite tough. Therefore, the main task of the cook is to ensure that each grain of rice is separated into several semi-solid parts.

Let's try to prepare a classic from:

• chicken broth - one liter;
• olive oil - a couple of tablespoons;
• saffron - one tablespoon;
• onions - two medium heads;
• garlic - take a couple of cloves;
• carrots - two root vegetables;
• zucchini - the same amount;
• wine (you need dry white) – ½ cup;
• butter - at least 100 g;
• green peas (frozen will do) - 200 g is enough;
• cheese (for example, Parmesan) - at least 100 g;
• parsley - a small green bunch;
• salt, red and black ground pepper - as much as you want.

Let's start with the vegetables first. We cut onions, carrots and zucchini, but do not make them too small - during the cooking process the vegetable cubes should not lose their shape. If the zucchini is young, it is not necessary to peel them. But we chop the parsley as finely as possible.

Pour saffron into the broth, put it on the stove and wait until it boils. In the meantime, let's do rice. Heat the butter in a saucepan and sauté one onion over low heat (until it becomes transparent). Pour wine into the container and simmer for another couple of minutes. Add rice. The fire is still weak. Stir the cereal for two minutes.

Pour a glass of boiling broth into the onion-rice mixture and bring the heat to medium high. We wait until the liquid is absorbed into the cereal (don’t be lazy and stir the contents of the saucepan all the time), and add a second glass of broth. Let the rice cook for 15 minutes.

During this time we make a mixture of vegetables. Fry the second onion until golden, after 7-8 minutes we send the rest of the company to it - carrots, zucchini, parsley, spices. The mixture will have to simmer for a quarter of an hour. Five minutes before the end of time, add the peas. All this goes into a saucepan with the rice. Three minutes on medium heat and you can turn it off.

We immediately distribute the hot food onto plates and sprinkle with grated Parmesan.

Cooking in a slow cooker

You can cook anything in a slow cooker, from borscht to cake. This means she can handle risotto quite well. It should be pretty tasty. Shall we try?

Products you will need:

• rice - take 400 g;
• tomatoes - two fruits are enough;
• chicken broth – 600 ml;
• carrots and onions - under one and the other;
• sweet pepper - at least two pods;
• olive oil ( for any risotto recipe
• You only need to sauté vegetables on it) - tablespoon;
• salt, ground black pepper - use your taste.

First in line are vegetables. Using a knife, turn the tomatoes (without skin) into cubes. We give a similar shape to peppers and onions. Pass the carrots through a large-mesh grater.

Grease the walls and bottom of the multi-bowl with oil and first add the onion into it. We set the device to the “Frying” task and turn it on. As soon as we notice the formation of a golden crust, we add the carrots to the onions. After a couple of minutes - pepper. After waiting the same amount - tomatoes. The total frying time should be 7-8 minutes.

Pour dry rice into the prepared vegetables, pour in the broth, season everything with pepper and salt.

The risotto in the multicooker will be ready when the device has been running for 20 minutes at the “Rice” option. You shouldn't eat right away. After the signal, let the food remain in the closed kitchen unit for another 5 minutes.

Hearty dish with chicken

Rice itself is quite a satisfying food. And its combination with vegetables is excellent. You can add even more satiety to the dish by using chicken as a component.

For preparation you need:

• chicken (preferably fillet or thighs) – ½ kg;
• rice - take 300 g;
• broth - 800 ml is enough;
• onion and carrot - one piece of each;
• sweet peppers and tomatoes - a pair of the first and second;
• garlic - at least two cloves;
• salt and ground pepper (black or red, it’s up to you) – as much as you want;
• olive oil - three tablespoons.

First boil the meat. Then divide into small pieces (directly with your hands). Fry in a frying pan with oil until browned. Place in a bowl.

We cut the vegetables as finely as possible (the tomatoes should already be without skin). Carrots can be processed not with a knife, but with a coarse grater. We send all this into the same oil where we fried the chicken. The first one is the onion. Then, with pauses of a couple of minutes - carrots, peppers, tomatoes.

Simmer vegetables for two minutes. Then add rice, chicken meat and hot broth. The mixture boils. And we immediately sprinkle it with garlic, which we chopped in advance with a knife.

After ½ hour of simmering over low heat, risotto with chicken and vegetables can be served to your household.

Risotto with frozen vegetables

Risotto is a whole kaleidoscope of pleasant taste sensations and long-lasting energy. Interestingly, if you don’t have fresh vegetables on hand, ice cream can easily replace them.

For an Italian dish with rice and frozen vegetables you will need:

• olive oil - take 30 ml;
• chicken broth - 250 ml is enough;
• rice groats – 150 g;
• frozen vegetables (asparagus, cauliflower and/or
• Brussels sprouts, carrots, onions, celery, other ingredients) – 350 g is enough;
• salt – use your own taste;
• spices and spices - whatever you like and as much as you want.

Thaw the vegetables ahead of time. Sauté them in a frying pan with olive oil for about five minutes. We are not lazy to actively stir the composition all the time.

We send the sorted grains into vegetables. We will not wash it so as not to deprive the grains of starch, which is necessary for the correct consistency of the food. No need to mix! Salt and spices should be poured directly on top.

The last item in our future risotto is hot chicken broth.

All that remains is to cover the frying pan tightly and keep it on the lowest heat for ¼ hour.

Cooking technology with minced meat

Although the classic risotto recipe does not involve the use of meat ingredients, it is worth trying to cook it as a full second course, and not just a side dish. To do this, you can add minced meat. For example, beef.

You will need the following products:

• minced lean meat, ideally beef – 250 g;
• two types of onions, onions and green onions - take a larger head than the first and a couple of bunches of the second;
• eggplant (small) – one fruit is enough;
• zucchini (young and large) – also one;
• chicken broth - four glasses is enough;
• olive oil - enough to fry vegetables;
• salt - as much as you see fit.

Heat the oil in a frying pan. It will be used for frying. First, place the finely chopped onion into a container. Add processed zucchini and eggplant in the same way when the onions turn golden. Pour the mixture with a glass of broth, season with salt and hide under the lid. Let it simmer for ten minutes over low heat.

Add a little salt and pepper to the minced meat. Now you can add it to the vegetables and sprinkle with chopped onion feathers.

After 10 minutes, add the rice grains and pour two more glasses of broth into the bowl. Continue cooking, always with the lid on. As soon as we see that the rice has “drunk” all the liquid, give it the remaining glass of broth, return the lid to its place and do not turn off the heat. Let the dish finish cooking.

With turkey

This “green” risotto will appeal to those who love a healthy diet and a slim figure. Its main ingredient is vegetables. There is less rice than in other recipes for the dish, and turkey meat is a dietary product. So let's cook without thinking about calories.

Needed:

• turkey fillet - take 300 g;
• water – 300 ml is enough;
• assorted vegetables: bell peppers, broccoli, carrots,
• tomatoes – quantity and types depend on your desire;
• rice (ideally Arborio) – 200 g is enough;
• garlic - at least 4 cloves;
• onion - one piece;
• wine (you will need white) – 150 ml;
• salt and ground black pepper - as much as you see fit;
• thyme, parsley, basil - all together or one thing;
• olive oil - for frying.

Prepare the broth - cook the meat in peppered and salted water. We remove the fillet to cool in a separate bowl, then chop it. You don't have to use a knife, but do it with your hands.

Chop the garlic and onion, but not finely. We fry them on all sides. 20 seconds will be enough. Then you can add the rest of the vegetables.

Then it’s the meat’s turn to go into the frying pan with vegetables. The path will fry in a minute.

Now you need to pour rice into the mixture. And after three to four minutes add wine.

We will watch until it evaporates and stir with a wooden spatula.

Then little by little, literally half a glass at a time, add hot broth to the frying pan. A new portion comes only after the previous one is absorbed. The “disappearance” of the last beat will indicate that the cooking process has been successfully completed.

How to cook with pearl barley

If you want risotto to please not only with its divine taste, but also with its mind-blowing aroma, try replacing traditional rice with pearl barley. True, this option will take longer to prepare, but you won’t have to constantly stand at the stove and stir all the time. Nothing will burn.

What components are needed?

• Pearl barley - take 200 g.
• Dry sherry (can be replaced with dry white wine) - 100 ml is enough.
• Garlic and onion - a clove of the first and a head of the second.
• Butter (cold) – at least 100 g.
• Parmesan cheese - at least 40 g.
• Chicken broth (or a decoction of dried mushrooms) – a liter is enough.

Use a knife to turn the onion into cubes. Pass the garlic through a garlic press. We wash the pearl barley under running water.

Place half the butter in a hot frying pan. When it “floats” and stops foaming, add onion and garlic. Let them fry until they turn golden. Now you can add pearl barley. Stir until each grain is coated with oil.

After a couple of minutes, pour in the sherry and shuffle the contents again. As soon as the liquid has completely evaporated, add a ladle of broth and add salt. We cook, only occasionally allowing ourselves the trouble to interfere with the future risotto.

Add another ladle at a time as soon as we see that the broth has been absorbed. As a result, the pearl barley should come out both quite liquid and “crispy” on the teeth.

All that remains is to season the risotto - first add the remaining chopped butter, then similarly processed cheese.

Risotto with vegetables and mushrooms

Mushrooms will add even more piquancy to the Italian dish, not to mention aroma. From the previous recipes it is clear what ingredients can be used and how to deal with them correctly. For example, oyster mushrooms, sea salt and dry white wine will make risotto with vegetables and mushrooms even more aristocratic. The only difference in the process is that when frying vegetables, you need to put mushrooms in the pan at the same time as onions. And then everything is as usual.

Risotto is an incredibly tasty, tender and satisfying dish of Italian cuisine. Let's look at the original recipes for preparing this dish.

Classic recipe for risotto with vegetables

Ingredients:

• olive oil – 3 tbsp. spoons;
• zucchini – 1 pc.;
• rice - 1 tbsp.;
• cauliflower – 1 pc.;
• cream – 3 tbsp. spoons;
• spices;
• greenery.

Preparation

Wash the rice well, dry it and place it in a frying pan with vegetable oil. Lightly fry it, stirring constantly, and then add the diced zucchini. We disassemble the cabbage into inflorescences and boil in salted water. Slowly pour water into the pan and season with spices. Then lay out the cabbage, cover with a lid and simmer the risotto for 15 minutes under the lid. 5 minutes before the dish is ready, pour in the cream and throw in the chopped fresh herbs. Gently stir everything and serve the dish hot.

Vegetable risotto recipe

Ingredients:

• rice – 300 g;
• – 2 l;
• fresh champignons – 300 g;
• butter – 100 g;
• dry white wine – 100 ml;
• onion – 1 pc.;
• carrots – 1 pc.;
• garlic – 1 clove;
• ground paprika - to taste;
• spices;
• cheese – 100 g.

Preparation

Here's another way to cook risotto with vegetables. We process the champignons, chop them into slices and fry them in vegetable oil for several minutes, adding spices and paprika. We clean the onion, chop it, and chop the carrots using a blender. In a small frying pan, melt a piece of butter and sauté the onion until transparent. Then add carrots and squeezed garlic clove. Simmer the vegetables for 5 minutes, and then add the contents to the mushrooms and add rice. Mix everything thoroughly and cook until all the oil is absorbed. After this, pour in the wine and when it has evaporated, add a little hot broth. Cook the risotto for 25 minutes over medium heat, and before serving, sprinkle the dish with grated cheese and mix vigorously.

Classic recipe for risotto in a slow cooker

Ingredients:

• rice – 2 tbsp.;
• vegetable oil - to taste;
• tomato – 1 pc.;
• spices;
• water – 3 tbsp.;
• carrots – 1 pc.;
• frozen vegetables – 300 g.

Preparation

To prepare risotto with vegetables, turn on the multicooker and set it to “Fry” mode for 15 minutes. Then pour some oil into the bowl and throw in the spices. After this, add grated carrots and frozen vegetables. Close the lid of the device and cook for about 10 minutes. After this, add the washed rice and diced tomato. Cook for another 5 minutes, then add water and add salt to taste. Mix the risotto with vegetables and cook in the multicooker in the “Rice” mode until fully cooked.

Classic Italian risotto recipe

Ingredients:

• chicken broth – 1 l;
• olive oil – 2 tbsp. spoons;
• carrots – 2 pcs.;
• asparagus – 300 g;
• green peas – 175 g;
• onion – 1 pc.;
• rice – 375 g;
• dry white wine – 125 g;
• cheese – 60 g;
• spices.

Preparation

Boil chicken broth in a saucepan. Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan and add peeled, chopped carrots and simmer them. Then add asparagus, sweet peas and season with spices. Fry the vegetables for 3 minutes, then remove from the heat and place the vegetable mixture in a bowl. In the same frying pan, sauté the chopped onion, add the rice and cook over low heat, stirring. Now pour in the wine and evaporate it, and then add half a glass of chicken broth and cook until the rice has completely absorbed it. If necessary, add broth in small portions. When the risotto is ready, add the vegetables, mix and sprinkle with grated cheese.

Vegetable risotto with champignons

Properly prepared risotto has a delicate, creamy consistency.

The secret of cooking is to add the broth in small portions as the liquid boils away. I simplified the recipe a little. Compared to the classic one, more affordable ingredients are used.

• Rice 1 cup (200 ml),
• broth, chicken or vegetable broth will do 1 liter or a little more (proportion 1:4 minimum)
• canned corn 3-4 tablespoons,
• Champignon,
• 1 bell pepper, red or yellow,
• onion, shallot is best, 1 head,
• garlic 1-2 cloves,
• cheese in the original recipe is Parmesan, you can use other hard cheeses,
• butter 50g, if you like the rich taste of cheese, take more
• vegetable oil, preferably olive oil 2-3 tablespoons,
• salt,
• half a glass of dry white wine, you can do without it,
• Italian herbs according to availability; basil, dill, parsley are good for vegetable risotto,
• from spices ground pepper (a mixture of peppers), turmeric, saffron.

Recipe

1. To prepare the broth, chicken or soup grade chicken is best suited. The latter takes longer to cook, but the broth is richer and more aromatic. It is advisable to use hot, freshly cooked broth.
2. Cut the peeled onion into cubes, finely chop the garlic. Fry the vegetables in a thick-bottomed frying pan with olive oil until the onion becomes transparent. The time is approximately two to three minutes.
3. Add rice. It is best to use special varieties of cereals for making risotto. If it’s not available, round rice will do; I don’t recommend long rice.
4. Fry, stirring for several minutes. You may need to add a little more oil. If the rice looks translucent, move on to the next step.
5. Add sliced ​​champignons and pour white wine into the pan. If wine is not provided, add broth instead.
6. Cook, stirring, until the liquid has evaporated almost completely. The consistency should remain viscous. The rice should not be toasted.
7. Add about half a glass of broth and evaporate again. The main principle is to add broth little by little and stir constantly. For me it’s every minute or two. Then we will achieve the desired creamy consistency.
8. It is believed that risotto should be cooked for 17 minutes after adding wine or broth. This is approximately how it turns out, plus or minus two minutes.
9. Ten minutes before the end of cooking, add corn and diced bell peppers, Italian herbs (if dried) and spices. If necessary, add salt if the broth is not salty enough.
10. If you are using fresh herbs, you can add a bunch tied with culinary thread five minutes before cooking, or you can sprinkle chopped herbs on the finished dish.
11. At the end of the cooking time, add chopped butter and half the cheese, grated on a medium grater, to the risotto.
12. Mix well and let stand covered for two to three minutes.
13. Place the vegetable risotto into portioned plates and sprinkle with the remaining grated cheese. You can decorate with greenery if desired.

There are many recipes for making risotto with vegetables. You can experiment with the ingredients. For example, add green peas and zucchini, cut into thin rings.
Try also

Cooking secrets

Risotto is one of the culinary symbols of Northern Italy, like pizza and spaghetti. This dish appeared by chance, thanks to the absent-mindedness of the cook, who was preparing rice soup, but forgot about it, and all the broth evaporated. Surprisingly, the cook found delicious rice in the pan, like the most delicate cream, with pieces of vegetables and meat. The first recipes for Italian risotto appeared in the 16th century, and now there are about a thousand ways to prepare this dish. All of them are prepared according to the same scheme: rice is fried in oil with onions, filled with broth or water, stewed, then vegetables, fruits, mushrooms, meat or seafood are added to it, and the ingredients may change. Sometimes, for a creamy texture, grated cheese mixed with butter is added to the dish at the end of cooking. You don't have to go to Italy to try Italian dishes, you can do it at home! So, let's talk about how to cook at home.

The best broth for risotto

Italian housewives prepare risotto in a maximum of 20 minutes, but they prepare all the ingredients for the dish in advance, such as broth. Risotto can be cooked in fish, beef and vegetable broth, but classic risotto recipes use chicken broth, boiled in good water with vegetables and spices. The flavor of the chicken goes perfectly with the rice!

It is better to cook chicken in well-purified drinking water with the addition of carrots, onions, stalked celery, parsley root, green pea pods, leeks, juniper, white or black peppercorns. And of course, don’t forget about the bouquet garni, which includes three essential components - parsley, thyme and bay leaf, diluted with tarragon, basil, rosemary, thyme and savory. These seasonings can be added dried or fresh, and it is better to salt the broth with sea salt - it is tastier and healthier.

The broth is prepared in the usual way: put the chicken in cold and lightly salted water, after boiling, reduce the heat, skim off the foam, add vegetables and spices and simmer for about 2 hours over low heat. 30 minutes before it’s ready, pour in a little dry white wine, and a couple of minutes before it’s ready, put bunches of greens into the pan. Then you need to cool and strain the broth. Using this recipe, you can also prepare broths from other products, just changing the cooking time, because vegetables and mushrooms cook faster.

Soft on the outside, hard on the inside

There are several hundred varieties of rice in the world, but only three varieties are intended for risotto - Arborio, Carnaroli and Vialone Nano. These medium-grain starchy varieties have a unique feature - they contain two types of starch. The starch on the surface becomes soft very quickly, so when cooked, the grains acquire a creamy consistency on the outside. The starch filling the core of the grain remains hard even after long cooking, so the rice turns out soft on the outside and dense on the inside. This is its highlight. Under no circumstances should you rinse rice before placing it in water, otherwise the surface layer will be damaged and you will end up with rice porridge instead of risotto. When choosing rice in a store, you can safely buy a package called “Risotto Rice.” Most likely, this is arborio, since other varieties are difficult to find in Russian stores. However, Arborio rice is very good and beautiful, looking like freshwater pearls. The quality of the rice is very important because it is what holds the dish together. By the way, about proportions - for 100 g of rice you need to take about 500 ml of broth.

A few words about products for risotto

The classic cheese for risotto is hard, grainy Parmesan or Grana Padano; the wine must be white and dry. It is recommended to use only butter, since risotto is a dish of the northern Italian regions, and olives grow in the south, however, in modern recipes it is allowed to use a combination of butter and olive oil. Naturally, the oil should have a fat content of 82.5%.

It is better to take yellow and white onions, not red; they should be cut very finely so that they do not introduce disharmony into the creamy consistency of the dish. Another important component of risotto is saffron. This ingredient is mentioned in recipes for risotto alla Milanese. You only need to purchase it in a store, and in its entirety, despite the fact that at the oriental bazaar sellers offer to buy a glass of saffron for 300 rubles. This should not be done under any circumstances, because the true cost of the spice is $10 per gram, and this gram will be enough for more than 40 risottos. To prepare the dish, use an infusion of saffron, for which several stamens are poured with hot broth and left for 30 minutes until the liquid acquires an orange tint. Another option is to dissolve saffron in wine.

Important points for preparing risotto

First, onions and other vegetables are fried in a frying pan until soft and transparent, but without forming a golden brown crust. Then pour in the rice and stir with the vegetables for half a minute, then pour in the wine, and the stirring process continues until the liquid is absorbed into the rice. Next, add one ladle of hot broth, while stirring the rice vigorously until it absorbs the liquid. When half of the broth remains, the main ingredient is added to the rice - saffron water, as well as mushrooms, seafood, meat or the necessary vegetables, then the broth is poured again in parts (while stirring). Exactly 17 minutes from the start of cooking, the frying pan is removed from the heat; it should remain completely undisturbed for 2 minutes so that the rice can rest and cool slightly. Finally, cubes of cold butter and grated cheese are placed on the rice, after which the risotto is well kneaded or shaken to distribute the butter and cheese evenly.

Constantly stirring the rice is an important condition for preparing the right risotto, and to make it work, prepare all the ingredients in advance, and then you won’t have to be distracted by onions or cheese. By the way, Italians do not add cheese to seafood risotto, believing that they do not go well together. You should be careful with salt and pepper when preparing risotto, since well-aged cheeses have a salty and spicy taste. Before cooking, taste the dish and, if necessary, add salt.

How to make risotto especially delicious: secrets from the chef

If you are making risotto with chicken broth, add a little tarragon to the pan while cooking the chicken, and dill is good for making seafood broth. These seasonings improve the taste of the dish and make the risotto incredibly fragrant. You can put the chicken soup set for broth in the oven for 5 minutes and then cook the broth from it, which will turn out strong, tasty and golden. The same can be done with vegetables for broth - keep them in the oven or in a hot frying pan until lightly scorched.

It is better to crush the peppercorns before cooking, then the aroma will be especially bright. By the way, to make the broth low-calorie, it is recommended to cool it and skim off the congealed fat.

All products for risotto must be of the highest quality, so you should not use wine for the broth just because it turned out to be too sour, or add dried cheese to the rice.

Another feature of the dish is its versatility, because each Italian region cooks it differently, so there are many recipes for how to prepare risotto. Instead of dry white wine, feel free to add dessert or sparkling wines, replace classic hard cheese with soft or blue cheeses, and use creamy cheeses, cream or olive oil as a butter substitute.

Experiments with risotto

In ancient recipes for this dish one could find egg yolks, sausage, sugar, milk and bread crumb, but even now chefs like to experiment with risotto. For example, if you add green peas to a dish, you get a Venetian version. Some Milanese cooks fry onions and garlic with bone marrow, and during the Renaissance this dish was served with ox marrow, making risotto a delicacy.

With asparagus, artichokes, cauliflower, celery and zucchini it is considered a dietary dish - you can add lemon juice to it for piquancy and freshness. Risotto often becomes a filling for pies; it is also used as stuffing for tomatoes, eggplants and peppers, and it is also cooked in the oven as a casserole. Avocado, tomatoes, carrots, beans, sausages, cervelat and other products are also added to this dish.

Risotto can be prepared for dessert by boiling rice in milk or berry broth, and then adding fruits, berries, dried fruits and nuts to it. Sweet risotto with pumpkin, chocolate or chestnuts is very tasty.

Step-by-step risotto recipe

So, you've mastered the theory, now try making classic Milanese risotto with saffron and white wine. All details are described above, so the recipe is given without details.

Ingredients: chicken broth - 5.5 cups, risotto rice - 360 g, dry white wine - 120 ml, onion - 1 pc., butter - 30 g, champignons - 150 g, olive oil - 2 tbsp. l., Parmesan - 120 g, saffron - 1 pinch, salt - to taste, ground black pepper - to taste.

Cooking method:

1. Add saffron to the wine.

2. Bring the broth to a boil and cover with a lid.

3. Finely chop the onion, chop the mushrooms medium-sized and fry in olive oil until softened, this will take about 5 minutes. The onion should retain its color.

4. Add the rice to the onions and stir well for a minute.

5. Pour the saffron wine into the rice, reduce the heat and cook, stirring, until the rice has completely absorbed the wine.

6. Add one ladle of broth to the rice and stir again until absorbed. So pour in a ladle of broth until it runs out. On average, rice takes about 25 minutes to cook; when cooked, it resembles something between a second rice dish and rice soup from which all the liquid has boiled away.

7. Season with salt and pepper, add diced cold butter and grated Parmesan. Stir and serve.

Your family will certainly appreciate Italian risotto, and when you learn how to cook a classic version of the dish, pay attention to other risotto recipes, photos and descriptions of which are published on our website.

Risotto with porcini mushrooms

Mushroom risotto has an appetizing appearance and an extraordinary aroma. Cook 2 liters of chicken broth with carrots, onions and spices. Bring 60 g of dry porcini mushrooms to a boil in a glass of chicken broth and let them brew for half an hour. Chop the swollen mushrooms, strain the liquid, pour back into the broth and bring to a boil.

In 2-3 tbsp. l. olive oil, fry the finely chopped onion until translucent, add 300 g of arborio rice into the pan and fry, stirring, for 3 minutes. Pour in a glass of dry white wine and simmer while stirring for another 3 minutes. Place the mushrooms in the rice, pour in 2 more ladles of broth and cook until the liquid is absorbed. Gradually add broth and stir for 18–20 minutes. Remove the rice from the heat, let it sit for a minute, and then add 40 g of butter and 100 g of grated Parmesan. Serve the risotto on warm plates, garnished with fresh herbs.