Italian gave the world a lot of delicious dishes, including risotto takes pride of place. This dish is different soft creamy texture and delicate, but full-bodied taste. Risotto is always in demand in high-end Italian restaurants and trattorias modest. If you stock up on suitable products, it is easy to cook risotto and at home.

Old figure of a new recipe

Rice cereal is the most popular in the world. By themselves, the rice grains have a neutral taste, so that rice can be prepared in hundreds of different foods - salty, sweet, savory, hot and cold. Depending on the technology of preparation, as well as on what products to combine rice, produced very different dishes, such as sushi Sushi - Japanese delicacy , Rice pudding, milk, rice and risotto.

There are many recipes for risotto - a dish prepared with meat or mushrooms, vegetables or seafood. Sometimes even make risotto sweet - vanilla, chocolate, lemon: these recipes are particularly popular with children, even those who are not very fond of rice. The dish is relatively young: the first written mention of it refer to the XIX century. Classic risotto should be creamy delicate structure, but sometimes risotto cook more liquid, almost fluid, or, on the contrary, crumbly.

The secret of a delicious risotto - in high-quality ingredients. This is typical of other Italian dishes, which are usually prepared by simple technology, but require careful selection of products. High-quality rice varieties suitable, good natural (in any case not from bricks) broth, fresh vegetables, meat, seafood, cheese. All these products are in-kind should be tasty and benign.

Product Selection

Taste risotto depends primarily on rice. You must use varieties with small round grains - Arborio, Vialone Nano, Baldo, fall, Maratelli, Roma, Carnaroli. The grains of these contains a large amount of starch, making the finished risotto becomes necessary consistency. Rinse rice in any case can not be, otherwise the dish will be ruined.

A huge influence on the taste has correctly prepared broth. It can be chicken, meat, fish or vegetable. Less use of mushroom soup, even more rarely - pure water. Snobbish minded chefs argue that the stock should be prepared specifically for risotto. But in practice it is unlikely anyone would notice a difference if used for cooking soup, which was left after cooking some foods. The main thing is to cook it correctly: put the product in cold water to saturate the taste; do not forget to add vegetables and spices; moderate salt at the beginning of cooking.

According to the Italian tradition for making risotto is only three kinds of cheese: Grana Padano, Parmesan or trentingrana. These cheeses have a grainy texture and rich taste that perfectly complements the taste of risotto. If suitable varieties of cheese is not available, you can use other hard cheeses: of course, the taste will be different from the original, but the dish still get excellent.

The wine risotto for use only white (red wines give the rice is not very pleasant shade) and dry. Of course, this should be a natural wine, not substitute for, the brand and the country of origin principle irrelevant.

Technology of preparation

In a large skillet with high sides should be warm oil (often use butter, but also permissible, and even olive chicken fat). In oil sauté shallots (suit and the usual onions) and garlic, finely chopped. Vegetables in no case should not burn slightly - only to become transparent. Then the contents of the pan add rice. Risinki be evenly oiled and become translucent - for this they need to be constantly stirred.

Hardly figure will change color, the wine is added to it and cook, stirring, until the grains fully absorb the liquid. Now comes the turn of the broth. For rice boiling liquid is added in small portions. Once the broth is absorbed into the grain, added a new portion. This dish is stir constantly.

When the rice is half-ready, you can add the other ingredients in the dish. For the mushroom risotto is to be roasted separately mushrooms, risotto with seafood - respectively, the seafood risotto for meat - fried meat and vegetables.

When the rice is quite soft, the dish is ready. It remains to add the sliced ​​Greatest diced cold butter and grated on a fine cheese grater. If necessary, you can salt the dish - in the process of preparing risotto salt very sparingly, but after the cheese is added, you can adjust the taste. Now the mixture is stirred and immediately served to the table with warm dishes.

Sweet risotto

Sweet varieties of risotto prepared a little differently. For frying rice applies only butter, onion, garlic and broth for obvious reasons not used at all. When rice is transparent, it is added in the wine and then continuing cooking fat in milk. Ready sweet risotto, as well as classic, flavored butter, but without the cheese.

Taste sweet risotto depends primarily on the filler. This may be a spice (cinnamon, vanilla Vanilla: sweet tenderness , Lemon or orange peel, spice mixtures), chocolate (best to use bitter, with intense flavor), caramel Caramel: sweet treat Coffee or any other sweet fillings. Serve the risotto is usually decorated with berries or fruit - fresh or cooked in syrup. This dessert is an excellent alternative to rice pudding bored.

Maria Bykov

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Figure: Saracen wheat