Risotto is an odd dish! It’s delicious and creamy and cheesy and calorific and yet I never ever think: I want to have risotto today (and I do get that feeling for a lot of other things! Rumours are I even list them in my sleep… Pasta… Pizza… Chocolate… Cake…mmmmmhh).
A good thing really that my aunt once made me try it. She insisted (She’s evil like that). And guess what, I loved it! I think I made two more risottos that very same week. So I’m lucky I tried it, because the only thing that makes me make them every now and again is remembering that once i start eating, I actually always love it. So making risottos has two advantages:
1) I get a delicious dinner
2) I make myself remember that I DO like them even though I never feel like them
Oh actually there’s a third one as well, but you’ll hear about that one in the next post. I tell you that much: it’s even more delightful.
Anyway enough with the talking, here’s what I actually made. I made a pretty straight forward mushroom risotto, but that’s not it yet! I also made the Turkish Salad from The Gate Cookbook! Together it was an absolute delight, I probably ate what could have feed a Rugby team… (your choice to feel sad for the little fat child or happy for the girl that ate her body weight in delicious food).
Risotto
1) Caramelize* 1 chopped up red onion in a mixture of butter and olive oil
2) Add just over 1 cup of Risotto rice (Arborio) and wait for it to go slightly see through
3) Add just over half a cup of fairly sweet White Wine and let it simmer (stirring occasionally)
4) You know the procedure: Keep adding a little bit of vegetable stock (good quality of course) and stir it, let it evaporate, add more and so on. Overall roughly 1 litre.
5) Whilst the risotto is becoming a risotto, wash and chop a mix of mushrooms (I used field mushrooms and chanterelles… if you do use the latter, make sure you clean it properly!). Then fry them.
6) When the risotto has reached the right consistency, add some cheese. Obviously the classic option would be Parmesan, I used Gruyere though.
7) Mix in the mushrooms and let it sit for at least 5 minutes.
8) Serve with:
Turkish Salad
I don’t want to get into trouble for posting the recipe on here, I loved it so much though that I think every single one who likes food (which I’m gonna guess is every single one of you) should buy this book! Of course I can’t leave you without an idea of what it is though: To me it’s more a salsa, than a salad (they say they don’t really see it as a salad either), it involves peppers, coriander, chili and tomato puree. I’m sure your imagination will let you come up with something. If not: buy.the.book!
ENJOY!
*is it bad, that caramelize is probably the most often used word on a mainly savoury food blog
