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. 

Risotto with a Twist

I have recently discovered quinoa and it seems as thought the rest of Sydney is as well.  I visited Peru earlier this year and found that this grain is delicious and versatile - from breakfast through to dinner.

There was one dish that I tried that was a quinoa risotto and I thought that this was something that I would like to try cooking at home.  I have with some success, however I will need to experiment with seasoning to get the right combination of flavours to replicate the dish I had in Peru.  Try this unusual version of a risotto for yourself, it is a really lovely change.  And very good for you too!

One thing that I did find when cooking this dish was that the quinoa behaves very differently to rice, it does not absorb liquid in the same way that rice does.  Any liquids that you add, do so gradually.

Red Quinoa Risotto

For the risotto:
1/2 onion
1/4 leek
1/4 stick of celery
1 cup of red quinoa, rinsed

2 pinches of salt

2 cloves of garlic

1/3 cup verjuice or white wine

2 cups of vegetable stock
a small knob of butter
1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese plus some more for garnish
1/3 cup of pouring cream
1 handful of chopped flat-leaf parsley plus a little more for garnish

For the accompanying vegetables:
1 sweet potato, cooked and mashed
1/2 zucchini, sliced and steamed

Heat the oil in a pan and add the onion, leek and celery until soft.  Add the rinsed quinoa and stir through.

Add the verjiuce and let it simmer away a little.  Add the garlic and stir through one cup of the stock.  Add more of the stock as the previous amount has cooked away.  The quinoa will cook in about 15 minutes.

When it is cooked, stir through a knob of butter, the grated parmesan and the cream.  Keep on the heat and stirring until these have melted into the quinoa and add the parsley. 

Serve topped with the sweet potato mash and zucchini, sprinkle with grated parmesan and the parsley.

Serves 2 

Hello NYC!

I love going to New York City - this I cannot deny.  It is the city the never sleeps and there is always something happening somewhere, whether it be a bar in the Village at 11:30pm or buying an iPad at 1am the choice is yours.  And these we indulged in whilst we were there.

Another thing that I really love about the city is that the leaps and bounds in the knowledge and awareness around coeliac disease (or celiac disease in American).  The waitstaff at restaurants are always very friendly and are more than happy to find out what options are GF on a menu.  And yes they probably are working that little bit harder to get a good tip but the willingness to go the extra mile really does make eating out an absolute pleasure.


We visited restaurants, friend's houses, supermarkets and delis and everything was really easy.  There is always great GF options on hand.  A breakfast favourite on this trip was to go the local Wholefoods for GF muffins, yoghurt and coffee each morning.


Wholefoods have a great range of GF bakery products, GF crackers, GF yoghurt, GF ready made soups/salads/curries and the list goes on.  The number of gluten free items does vary from store to store mainly due to the size of the shop but there is always a number of options.  This place is a go-to for me.  I always love to go to Wholefoods when I am in the States.

The restaurants we visited were varied from pubs to gluten free restaurants.  The highlight would be and always will be where we have our first meal each time we visit NYC:  a very delicious restaurant, Risottoria in the Village.
This is a must for all coeliac visitors to the City.  This restaurant is one of the few that you will find that is has a gluten free menu.  The plus is that it is so delicious and the freshly prepared  GF pizzas and GF risottos are fantastic - gotta love the GF carbs!  They even have GF beers and on the table when you sit down are GF breadsticks - they are to die for!
I must get the recipe - can anyone help??  I know that most of the flour mixes that they sell through the restaurant have tapioca and corn flour as the main GF flours but what else do they do that makes them so delicious to eat, especially with a GF beer?  If anyone knows, please tell me!

This is only the start of our NYC adventure - stay tuned for more.....to be continued.....

Refreshing Spring Risotto

The Basic Risotto recipe that I posted a little while ago is the basis of many different types of risotto the I prepare for dinner.  One in particular is very simple and uses two additional ingredients most of which everyone has and if you don't they are very simple to get your hands on.

Make your basic risotto recipe.  When the risotto is almost done, defrost a cup of baby peas from fresh the freezer.  I usually cover them with water from a freshly boiled kettle and let them sit for a few minutes before draining and stirring through the risotto.

Don't put the peas into the risotto too soon or else they will become mushy.  I like to ensure that they are perfectly warmed through not mushy at all.

Prior to serving finely chop up your mint and stir through, saving a little for garnish.

A lovely Monday night meal to mark the start of spring!

My Basic Risotto

In the cooler months of the year, I like to give in to my cravings particularly for a lovely creamy risotto.  I can still remember the first time that I had risotto:  it was a Milanese Mushroom risotto.  My mum had made it for the first time one Sunday for lunch and we devoured it.  It was so creamy and delicious!

I tend to make risotto depending mainly on what vegetables I have in the fridge.  The following recipe is for a basic risotto from there you can add any variety of veggies, herbs or meat that you prefer.  I have found that it is best to add the more fragile vegetables towards the end of cooking to prevent them from getting over-cooked.

Risotto is great either as a main dish or as an accompaniment.

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. 

Serve with a quick grating of parmesan cheese and a sprig of thyme for garnish.