Making Risotto

Photo: flickr user norwichnuts

Preparation

Q: How does one make a creamy risotto? The recipe I used called for 2 1/2 cups arborio rice and 5 1/2 cups hot stock. It came out like concrete; what did I do wrong?

A: "What did I do wrong?" questions are always difficult because I don't know what you really did. In this case, it is made a lot easier by a certain piece of information you gave me: the proportion of rice to stock. Risotto is almost always made with 3 times as much liquid as rice, so it is fairly safe for me to say that you didn't use nearly enough stock. In fact, you were about 2 cups short.

A basic guideline for making risotto is to first cook onion in butter or olive oil until soft, about 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in Italian arborio rice and cook 1 minute more. Add 1/3 of the hot stock and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until liquid has absorbed. Add the rest of the liquid, 1/2 cup at a time, cooking rice at a simmer and stirring constantly until rice is cooked al dente ' slightly chewy ' and the broth has created a sauce. If your heat is too high, you may need to add more than three times the amount of liquid because you are losing too much to evaporation. I don't think you will ruin your risotto, you'll just need to add more liquid (and make a note for the next time to cook at a lower heat). I prefer to err on the side o

If you follow these guidelines, you can use any risotto recipe. The recipe will give you proportions and ideas for how to flavor the rice, be it with herbs and cheeses, seafood, or meats.