Get ready for some stirring. The real trick for how to make risotto is all about constantly stirring things around. As long as you have the time to dedicate to standing in front of the stove with little distraction, it is a simple recipe. So get out a nice stirring spoon or spatula and try your hand at risotto.

For a more hands-off rice recipe, take a look at my rice cooker Mexican rice.

The simplest of risottos are just stock and rice. For this recipe, I embellish a bit more than that, but not by much. With just seven total ingredients, you wouldn’t expect the dish to have such a good flavor profile. But many times simpler is better.

It is worth it to make your own homemade chicken stock for this recipe. A homemade broth will have so much more flavor than a generic boxed one. Don’t get me wrong, I love using store-bought stock. But when it is such an important part of the dish, it does take it to the next level to make your own.

All About That Rice

The type of rice used to make risotto is very important. Use high-starch short-grain rice to get the right texture. The two recommended varieties are Carnaroli and Arborio rice. Both are high-starch varieties. The more common long-grain rice varieties won’t make a risotto.

It all has to do with how risotto is made. The rice cooks in the broth and releases starch. This thickens the stock and turns into a creamy sauce that, combined with the now cooked rice, becomes risotto.

To make risotto, heat olive oil in a pan and sauté a shallot (Step #1). Use onion as a substitute for shallot if needed. Then add in the rice, stir to coat, and cook for a couple of minutes (Step #2). However, make sure not to let the rice brown. Add a cup of hot chicken stock to the rice and stir (Step #3). Continue stirring and stirring so that nothing sticks to the bottom. When the rice has absorbed nearly all of the broth, add another cup and stir again.

Repeat the process of adding stock and stirring until the rice comes to the right texture (Step #4). The texture of a good risotto should be just a little past an al dente pasta. There will be a bit of bite to the rice still – you don’t want to cook it into a pile of mush that could be slurped up a straw. After it is cooked, turn the heat off and stir in the parmesan cheese (Step #5).

Ladle a bit more stock into the risotto and give it a good stir if it gets too thick after adding the parmesan. Now you have a finished risotto (Step #6). Make sure to plate it and serve while warm so it doesn’t lose steam and over-thicken.

Optional Risotto Ingredients

This basic risotto recipe is delicious itself as a side dish. But it can easily be transformed with other proteins, herbs, and spices to become something else. It is a great template from which you can experiment to find something that you truly love.

For proteins, add cooked shrimp, grilled chicken, or sautéed mushrooms after you have stirred in the parmesan cheese. Other flavors can be added to the mix. Saffron is a common addition for its color and signature flavor – this is called risotto alla milanese. Various wines can also be used in the cooking process. Use about 1/2 cup and replace the white wine vinegar that starts off the rice cooking process.

Note that you will want to have proteins and vegetables cooked prior to adding to the risotto. In most cases, it doesn’t make sense to try and cook them within the risotto itself. Most spices and dried herbs would be added towards the start of the cooking process to release flavors while it simmers. Fresh herbs would be introduced with the parmesan cheese, or as a topping while plating.

I have seen some online recipes for ‘sweet risottos’ but those really fall under the rice pudding category in my opinion. Rice puddings are similar in that you cook starchy rice in a liquid (typically milk) but they are sweet.

However you flavor it, risotto provides the perfect creamy texture as a side dish and is an excellent canvas for your creativity.

How to Make Risotto

Recipe by Marc PetersonCourse: Entrees, SidesDifficulty: Moderate

Servings

6

servings

Prep time

5

minutes

Cooking time

55

minutes

Total time

1

hour 

Let’s make risotto – a traditional Italian method of cooking rice in chicken stock to create deep flavor from simple ingredients

Ingredients

• 6 to 8 cups chicken stock

• 4 tablespoons olive oil

• 1/3 cup chopped shallot

• 2 cups Arborio rice

• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar

• 3/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

• Heat the chicken stock in a large saucepan over medium-low heat
• In a separate frying pan with deep sides, heat the olive oil on medium heat
• Add the shallot, stir it into the oil, and let it cook while stirring for a few minutes until it starts to become translucent
• Pour the rice into the pan, stir to coat it in the oil, and cook for two minutes while stirring – do not let the rice brown
• Add the white wine vinegar to the rice and cook while stirring until the liquid is almost gone
• Stir one cup of the hot chicken stock from the saucepan into the rice
• Continue stirring constantly until nearly all of the liquid is gone
• Repeat steps 6-7 with the remaining chicken stock until the rice is cooked through to the right texture – a little past al dente, not mushy
• Remove the rice from the heat, add the parmesan cheese and salt, and stir to combine
• The finished risotto should still flow a bit if stirred around and not hold its shape, if it doesn’t flow, then add a ladle or two of chicken stock and stir to combine until it is the right consistency

Notes

• If you run out of stock and the rice is still not done, then water can be used to take it to the right texture without affecting the flavor much

The post How to Make Risotto on Your First Try appeared first on Do You Roux?.

This soup has a personality. Garbanzo lemon orzo soup is bright and happy and reminds me of springtime and warmer weather. I think these attributes come from the fresh ingredients, the broth base, acidic lemons, and no cream. You can make this on one of the cold, dark winter days to remind you of springtime, or make it during the spring as a joyful celebration of the season.

I found the original inspiration for this recipe because I had bought more lemons than I needed for a different dish. With extra lemons, I needed to use them before going bad. I could juice them and freeze the juice for later, but I wanted to use them fresh. So I started digging and ended up finding this vegan lemon chickpea orzo soup recipe.

That recipe is amazing in and of itself, but I always like to tinker and change things. For this one especially, felt like I wanted a creamier soup and something a little less broth-based. Without the creaminess, the soup is almost like a little variation on chicken noodle soup. And I tried it with heavy whipping cream. But that made the soup seem to lose its bright, airy qualities.

Temper-amental

More internet digging brought me to a traditional Sephardic Jewish cuisine method that could help with this dish. This method found its way into Greek, Arab, Turkish, Balkan, and Italian cooking. By mixing together lemon juice and eggs you make a sauce that can be used to thicken soups and stews. It is most famously known as avgolemono from Greek cuisine.

This method takes a little extra effort. You have to slowly temper the egg-lemon mixture using some of the hot broth. You don’t want scrambled egg soup. But when done correctly you can get a silky smooth creaminess to your soup that doesn’t rely on cream or milk that tends to weigh a soup down. Perfect for this bright broth-based soup.

After whisking together the eggs and lemon juice, ladle out some of the broth that has been cooking on the stove. Slowly (very slowly) start drizzling some of the hot broth into the egg-lemon mixture while constantly whisking. Whisk, whisk, whisk away while drizzling. You’ll repeat again with even more broth. And after, you should have tempered the eggs to warm them up without scrambling them. It’s a similar process to making a lot of different custards.

You’ll want to have this ready just before the orzo pasta has cooked in the broth. Then you can remove the soup from heat and slowly drizzle in the tempered egg mixture while stirring the soup. It will all come together into creamy deliciousness.

Options for Lemon Orzo Soup

Like most of my recipes, you can easily mix things up to put your own spin on it. Add, remove, substitute.

• Broth – any kind of broth can be used for this recipe, you can even make some homemade broth for the occasion. My tried and true go-to broth is always chicken broth, but I made this one with a large batch of turkey broth I had made at home after Thanksgiving.
• Protein – The garbanzo beans add a great source of protein, but you can add to it or substitute it for any other kind you are feeling or have on hand. Typically I will add either shredded chicken or turkey in with this if I have some on hand.
• Starch – Orzo pasta can easily be changed out with rice for this recipe. Rice will take a bit longer to cook in the broth, so just make sure to simmer the broth until the rice is done cooking – but don’t let it get soft and mushy.
• Herbs – Any herbs can be introduced to this recipe. When the recipe calls for adding in rosemary, bay leaf, and thyme, try your own individual mix of herbs instead.

Lemon Orzo Soup

Recipe by Marc PetersonCourse: SoupsDifficulty: Moderate

Servings

10

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

25

minutes

Total time

40

minutes

Garbanzo lemon orzo soup is a bright and happy reminder of springtime and warmer weather with fresh ingredients, broth base, and lemons.

Ingredients

• 3 medium carrots

• 3 medium celery

• 1 medium onion

• 5 cloves garlic

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 9 cups vegetable or chicken stock

• 2 sprigs rosemary

• 1 bay leaf

• 1 teaspoon dried thyme

• 1 tablespoon salt

• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

• 2 cans (15oz) garbanzo beans

• 1 and 1/2 cups orzo pasta

• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3 lemons) 

• 4 eggs

• (Optional) 3 handfuls of spinach

Directions

• Slice the carrots and celery to about 1/8″ thick, mince the garlic, and chop the onion.
• Add olive oil to a large stockpot over medium heat, then mix in carrots, celery, garlic, and onion. Sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Pour in the broth and then add rosemary, bay leaf, thyme, salt, and pepper. Drain the garbanzo beans and stir them into the broth.
• Turn the heat up to medium-high and wait for the broth to heat to a simmer.
• Add in the orzo pasta, turn heat down to medium, and stir occasionally until the orzo is cooked – about 15 minutes.
• While pasta is cooking, whisk together eggs and lemon juice in a medium-sized bowl. Ladle out about a cup of broth from the stockpot, then ever so slowly drizzle the broth into the lemon-egg mixture while constantly whisking. When the first cup is done, repeat with a second cup of broth.
• Once the pasta is done cooking, remove the pot from the heat and then very slowly drizzle the heated lemon-egg-broth mixture into the soup while constantly stirring. If the soup is too hot and it is immediately cooking the eggs (looking kind of like scrambled eggs), then stop pouring and wait a few minutes for the soup to cool and try again.
• If desired, stir the spinach into the soup until it begins to wilt, then serve it hot and fresh.

Notes

• If left to sit, the orzo tends to soak up the broth mixture – so eat it soon after cooking or try freezing it in pint containers for later

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