A Fresh Tasting Risotto

Dinner for us the other night was risotto, which is a regular visitor to our table.  Sometimes it is a solo feature or paired with another main.  Our dinner no this particular night was Sundried Tomato and Lemon Risotto and Grilled Chicken.

I find that risotto is a great gluten free dish.  It is easy to prepare and once you have the knack of making it you are on your way to exploring the different combinations of flavours that you can add to your basic risotto recipe.

This risotto was made using the basic risotto recipe that I have mentioned earlier but will include below.   The grilled chicken was done very simply:  chicken breast sprinkled with olive oil and a little salt then cooked, or rather fried in a non-stick fry pan.  A very simple and delicious meal.

Sundried Tomato and Lemon Risotto

1 batch of basic risotto recipe (see below)
replace the parmesan cheese with pecorino cheese
1 cup of loosely packed sundried tomatoes, sliced
zest of half a lemon
juice of half a lemon
a small handful of chopped parsley to finish

1 chicken breast cut into half, making it thinner
olive oil
salt

Once the risotto is almost ready and you have just added the butter and pecorino cheese, add the chopped up sundried tomatoes as well and the lemon zest.  Mix these through carefully as you don't want the tomatoes mashed up in the risotto too much.  Squeeze the lemon juice over and mix through a little more.

Taste and check the seasoning.

Cook the thin halves of the chicken breast in a non-stick pan with a little olive oil and sprinkle with salt as it cooks.  By cutting the chicken breast in half, so that it is thinner it will cook much faster and retain moisture as it will cook quickly .

Serve the risotto and the chicken together.  Enjoy!

monica@loveglutenfreeaustralia



My Basic Risotto Recipe

a glug of olive oil
1 onion
1/2 leek
1/2 stick of celery
2 cups of arborio rice
2 splashes of verjuice
approx a litre of vegetable stock
3-4 cloves of garlic depending on the size
several pinches of salt
a pinch of nutmeg
20g of unsalted butter
1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese - loosely packed
10 small sprigs of fresh thyme

Finely dice all vegetables except the garlic, but peel the garlic at this stage.  Aim to dice all the vegetables a similar size to ensure that they cook evenly.  
Heat the oil in the fry pan, once the oil is heated add all of the vegetables and a pinch of salt. Cook until the onion is transparent  and the other veg have softened a little.
Add the arborio rice to the pan and cook until the rice becomes transparent.
Mince the garlic and the freshly grated nutmeg and stir through the vegetable/rice mix in the pan.  

Splash the verjuice into the pan, it will sizzle a bit but stir it though as it will evaporate slightly and go a little cloudy.  This is the starch being released a little from the rice.  
Once the verjuice has evaporated, gradually add the stock, a ladle full at a time.  Or my version:  a little boiling water from the kettle and a couple of teaspoons of stock powder will suffice.  You don't need to use a homemade or store bought stock the powdered version is perfectly fine, it is entirely up to you.  

Ensure that the stock or water is added gradually, allowing the previous ladle full to be absorbed before more is added.   Keep stirring the risotto regularly, keeping the heat low - you don't want to boil the rice.  The constant stirring is essential to help massage the starch out of the rice which gives risotto its lovely creaminess.  I also tend to add a small pinch of salt each time I add the stock, if you are not sure how salty your stock is, don't add the salt at these regular intervals.

After about twenty minutes or so, check the rice is cooked by tasting it.  If is it not ready, keep adding the stock until the rice is cooked.  Once cooked, add the butter and the grated parmesan cheese, stir both through until melted.  These two ingredients will add a little more creaminess but also flavour to the dish.

Check the seasoning and correct as needed - I find that I tend to need more salt, and add the thyme, stripping the leaves off the stalks. Keep one or two tips for a garnish.  Stir this through for even distribution.

My final note about risotto is to ensure that the texture is like runny porridge.  I prefer my risotto this way.  To ensure that this is the case, I will add a little more stock to maintain this texture.