Heavenly Risotto
What Fancy Restaurants DON'T Want You to Know... it's Easy
Greetings, 🥂 🍚
The “King of Italian Rice” preparations, Risotto truly is comfort food defined.
Whether ordered as a large main portion for dinner, or as part of a smaller course in an omikase/tasting menu format, risotto is the perfect blank canvas that can carry limitless combinations and flavors.
Classically, Rice is cooked with liquid(s) and grated parmesan cheese (and/or butter) is folded in to finish.
The alchemy of perfectly cooked rice engulfed in a sauce thickened by its’ own starch provides texture, viscosity and even emotional comfort. (Yes, good food should be comforting!)
Variations are limitless
Vegetable options include:
-Mushroom 🍄
-Sweet Pea
-Tomato 🍅
-Pumpkin 🎃
-Allium (Onions/Leeks/Garlic) 🧅 🧄
-Butternut Squash
You get the idea…
Add to that, you can vary the flavor profiles depending on meat garnishes:
-Steamed Chicken 🐓
-Grilled Beef 🥩
-BBQ Pork 🐖
-Braised Lamb 🐑
-Crisp Turkey 🦃
-Roasted Duck 🦆
-Seafood (of all types) 🐠 🦪 🦑 🦐
All would perch beautifully atop risotto to make a wonderful one-plate meal.
Somewhere along the line risotto got “fancy”.
The tradition of Italian Nonna’s having their kids stir for eternities to create the perfect risotto attained cult status and was adopted by fine dining chefs as a way to flex some technique and also honor the alchemy of Risotto.
*Would be remiss to not mention the ubiquitous “Alba White Truffle” risotto, which can be pure luxe perfection when they are in season. Certain fine dining chefs announce with great fanfare when the truffles arrive and many patrons make reservations specifically for that. (Truffles will be left for a dedicated Substack… lots of misinformation on quality, where to get and storing).
Now Risotto appears on practically every mid-tier western restaurant ranging in cuisines styles from Italian 🇮🇹 to “New American” (Don’t get me started on that designation)
With Risotto being a hallowed culinary preparation the price you pay out now for cooked rice is especially dear these days.
Why is this?
Home Cooks have been told that risotto is:
-fussy and hard to make….
-“if you weren’t taught by an Italian Nonna you won’t get it right”
-you need to be a pro chef to nail the preparation.
On top of that, with restaurant food costs always being tight, risotto traditionally is a good profit maker due to the main ingredients being rice and stock.
Unfortunately a lot of risottos ordered out can be disappointing.
-over cooked rice
-bland flavors
-but most often… you get a pile of warm cottage cheese that is thick and gloopy… not unctuous, saucy and flowing.
A perfect risotto should slowly crawl across the plate, like molten magma.
So what if you could make perfect Risotto at home?
Perfect for dinner parties, impressing guests, or a just weeknight meal… dress it up or down!
And what if there was a simple process to get amazing, consistent results?
That’s what 🐙 has for you today… and hint, it doesn’t involve lots of stirring!
Check it out ⬇️
