Pantry-friendly risotto x 2
Recipe by Catherine Neville / Video editing by Nicole Newman
Risotto is a warm blanket of a dish, easily made with pantry-staple ingredients and readily adapted to fit dietary needs. It’s gluten free and just as tasty and warming when made vegetarian or vegan.
Either arborio or carnaroli rice can be used to make risotto — arborio rice is easier to find than its starchier cousin and can be obtained in just about any grocery store or, of course, online. What sets these varieties of rice apart is the way the starch on the grains mingles with the broth and wine as you stir, creating the creamy texture that distinguishes risotto from other long-simmered rice dishes like paella or pilaf.
The key to successful risotto is having the broth at a gentle simmer while you’re ladling it into the rice — the broth needs to go into the rice when it’s nice and hot so you don’t drop the temperature of the rice as it’s cooking. And the reason you are supposed to stir risotto so much? Flavor (and to keep the rice from sticking, but mainly flavor!). Constant stirring allows the broth-wine mixture to reduce and concentrate, deepening the flavor of the dish.
The recipe below can be modified to fit just about any ingredient; pick what you have in your pantry, your freezer and in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator.
Anything that you plan to stir in at the end, like sausage and mushrooms I used, should be cooked through before you begin your rice, unless it’s something that can be eaten raw, like the kale in this recipe.
Look at risotto as a blank canvas, like pasta. By following the technique I’ve outlined, you can create something delicious with what you have on hand. Risotto is a great way to use up leftovers — roasted squash adds beautiful sweetness and would be a perfect match with crumbled up bacon from brunch, the last bits of rotisserie chicken or, if you want to keep your risotto veg, spicy arugula would be a delicious pair. If you’re planning to add carrot to your risotto, try dicing and cooking it in a bit of olive oil to caramelize the sugars and deepen its flavor. Have some frozen peas hanging around? Just thaw them out and toss them in at the very end of cooking. A container of leftover roasted Brussels sprouts staring at you from the fridge? Chop’ em up and stir them in! Any on-the-edge greens that you’d rather not throw away can be stirred in with the cheese.
Risotto is even a great way to get kids involved in the kitchen — have them help ladle the broth into the rice or help with stirring.
And if you end up with leftover risotto (not likely!), roll the cold risotto into balls or cakes, coat with breadcrumbs or panko and fry them up. Arancini are delicious with a bit or marinara or served on top of a salad.
Sausage, Mushroom and Kale Risotto
Recipe by Catherine Neville
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
5 to 6 cups chicken or vegetable broth or stock
1 bottle dry white wine
1 lb. sweet or hot Italian sausage, casings removed if links
1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
olive oil
1/2 yellow or red onion, diced
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
1 cup chopped baby kale or other flavorful green
¾ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more for garnish
| Preparation | In a small saucepan, bring 4 cups broth or stock, along with about 2 cups wine, to a gentle simmer.
While wine and broth are simmering, in a medium skillet over medium-high heat, sauté sausage until it begins to brown and render its fat. Add mushrooms and sauté until slightly caramelized and fully cooked. Turn off the heat and let rest.
In a large skillet with high sides, heat a good amount of olive oil and sauté onion until translucent. Add rice and stir to coat rice with oil. Add a cup or so of wine and simmer, stirring, until liquid has evaporated. Then, ½ cup by ½ cup, ladle simmering broth-wine mixture into rice, stirring until broth is absorbed and has evaporated. When rice is just about al dente, stir in sausage-mushroom mixture and continue to cook until the rice is still somewhat firm, but not too mushy.
Stir in kale and cheese and then add more broth if necessary to keep the texture loose and creamy. Taste and adjust seasoning — depending on the spicing of the sausage, you most likely won’t need to add salt and pepper, but check just in case!
Spoon risotto into shallow bowls and grate extra cheese on top.
Prosciutto and Parmesan Risotto
Recipe by Catherine Neville
Yield: 8 servings
2 cups mixed mushrooms, chopped – button, cremini, shiitake, etc.
olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 to 6 cups chicken or veggie stock or broth
1 bottle dry Prosecco
½ large yellow onion, small dice
2 cups arborio or carnaroli rice
1 4-oz package prosciutto, chopped
¾ cup peas (thawed if frozen)
½ cup chopped parsley
2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, divided
| Preparation | In a small skillet, sauté mushrooms in olive oil until tender and beginning to brown. Season with salt and pepper and set aside. Meanwhile, heat stock or broth until boiling and then reduce heat. Add a cup of Prosecco to stock. Keep at a gentle simmer.
Heat 5 to 6 tablespoons olive oil in a large frying pan (one with deep sides, not a skillet with sloping sides) and add diced onion. Sauté until onion is translucent and then add rice, stirring to coat rice with oil. Deglaze pan with a cup or so of Prosecco and stir, allowing the wine to simmer and reduce. Add ½ a cup of warm broth at a time to the rice, stirring to encourage absorption into the grains, and waiting to add the next addition of broth until most of the previous addition has been absorbed. Continue until the rice is just barely al dente (taste a grain and see if the texture is still kind of hard and starchy or if it’s starting to get “toothsome”).
Once rice is just about cooked through, add mushrooms and prosciutto, stirring to combine. Add in another ½ cup broth or more, if necessary, to loosen the texture. (You might need to add more broth and wine to the simmering broth pot as necessary to ensure you have enough.) When the rice is cooked through, gently stir in the peas, parsley and basil, adding more broth to keep the somewhat-loose consistency. Stir in a good ½ cup of Parmigiano-Reggiano and taste, adding salt and pepper as necessary along with more broth if you’d like. Serve risotto topped with more cheese and a few grinds of black pepper.