risotto emergency!

I am half way through making mushroom and artichoke risotto. I just realised the only cheese I have in the house is extra mature cheddar cheese. Should I use that instead of parmesan, or go without?!?!?!??!?!

Use some sparingly, I reckon.

cheddar cheese risotto is amazing it has a real sharp flavour

just taste as you go, it's delicious tho

add extra wine for more sweetness

don't overdo it and it should be fine

(I mean don't overdo the cheese)

ok, heavy on the wine, easy on the cheese and it will be OK sounds like good advice. thanks guys!

"No cheese at all!" (says the vegan)

No but srsly the cheddar would probably taste really, really fucking good.

how did this work out?

I made cheddar risotto 2 days ago and it was teh yum.

It was lush. The cheese was really strong so I only used a tiny bit, but it was great. Less creamy and perhaps less salty than with parmesan. I think I will go back to parmesan if I have it in the house, but there is no doubt that mushrooms + cheddar is always great.

oh pantyman!

made risotto with shrimp and peas last night and my brain opened up and exploded with the infinitude of variations on this recipe. also i didn't use cheese.

I still have not tried the dessert risotto I've had in mind for almost a decade -- butter instead of olive oil, maybe a little sweet onion like vidalia, but mainly chopped apples at the beginning, deglaze with a little white wine or maybe calvados, then simmering apple juice instead of stock, some more chopped apple halfway through so there are different textures of apple, finish with manchego.

manchego is really good in risotto.

my brain just opened up and exploded again with the infinitude of variations.

somebody should do "the risotto variations."

last night my husband said that the (labor-intensive delicious sausage and fresh pea) risotto i made tasted "basically like fancy rice a roni" -- did rice a roni ruin risotto?

my two cents: f u rice a roni for ruining risotto

half parmesan and half gruyere is the bomb

I hope that after that comment he was wearing the risotto as a fancy hat-a-roni

i wasn't happy, but mostly because i had dirtied like 100 dishes and stood in front of the stove forever for...rice a roni. i really do think he was being earnest -- rice a roni and those gross bags of rice + sauce made an impression on him before risotto did, so i can't hold that against him.

That's the thing with risotto, and why I don't do it often, it's so time consuming because it needs to reduce down but you can't go away and leave it otherwise it sticks to the pan or gets too salty.

why does leaving it make it get too salty?

i used to be religious about adding liquid v slowly and stirring continuously, but i get pretty much identical results if i do it slowly and properly for the first 5-10 minutes, then just dump in the rest of the liquid and leave it.

Well it's only a problem if you use chicken stock or stock made with vegetable bouillon cubes. And sticking is a real risk if you use arborio rice.

i mean, sadly -- look at the prep for rice a roni. it's exactly the same -- butter + rice, saute, add liquid and "seasoning packet", reduce, eat in your sad living room alone while watching prime time network tv. i know this because i've done it. some bozo invented rice a roni (purportedly the san francisco treat?) because it was risotto for the people.

i maintain that conceptually, rice a roni ruined risotto. for me at least.

cooking risotto if you don't have the time to idle by the stove is reckless. but when you have time get to spend an hour ricocheting around your kitchen topping up stock and gently stirring = classic. the best meal for kitchentime.

I had a similar thing, La Lechera, the only time I made keema mutter. So many fiddly obscure spices, hours of stirring, only to realize it was just fancy sloppy joes. Glad the sausage and pea risotto was at least delicious, if not 100% satisfying.

I use arborio rice and have never had the sticking problem using the "keep an eye on it for the first 5/10 then dump the rest of the stock in".

i agree w/ caek, cookbooks always tell you that you need to stand over the stove but they are liars

seriously

presumably schlump was exaggerating, but if you're stirring it for an hour then you're making a hearty soup, not risotto

lol yeah i would say half an hour would be pretty standard - maybe less

less i think. i used to do mine for like 25-30 minutes and was told by italians that it was overcooked. down to 20 now. and it was an italian who told me not to bother with that stirring constantly, teaspoon of stock at a time nonsense.

yeah i was only stirring (virtually) nonstop for 30 min or so using a ladle to add stock. still, wasn't really worth it. i enjoyed the salad more, tbh. it was raw beets, fennel, cucumber, feta and lemon juice with spinach. simple and tasty.

whoa! the risotto thread exploded!

if you seriously think rice a roni is like risotto then you made 'em wrong, yo.

xp I do about 20 minutes, adding a cup of stock at a time, stirring every couple of minutes or so. That's what the recipe on the back of the box says to do.

the rice a roni thing reminds me of the time a friend told me my homemade ice cream (which i'm rather proud of) was SO GOOD. like ORANGE JULIUS good. which, stop eating my ice cream ex-friend and go get yr ice cream at the fucking mall.

"Dude, your burgers are really good! Like the ones they serve at MacDonald's!"

http://media.npr.org/news/images/2008/jul/31/rice_pilaff540.jpg

^^ original recipe upon which rice a roni (the actual rice a roni!) was based
not exactly the same as risotto (duh) but not wholly dissimilar either
dang

except for the last sentence

plus no self respecting pilaf would be w/o onions

now that i know how to post pictures dig the aforementioned shrimp risotto
http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd210/jdchurchil/food%20porn/DSC_0038.jpg?t=1249087183

presumably schlump was exaggerating, but if you're stirring it for an hour then you're making a hearty soup, not risotto

i wasn't! o k, maybe forty five minutes. i have never challenged the wisened chefs who tell me that you have to hover 'n' stir though, because i like to do so so much. really; music playing, risotto stirring, someone perched at the kitchen table making lazy conversation.

the picture above is good though because it gives me ideas for what do you serve with risotto. i always just have this big unsightly blob on the plate, maybe with some sarcastic sprig of something green on top. what are good risotto accompaniments?

schlump srsly 20 min is an accurate time for risotto

am i the only person in the world who hates this sludge

If it's sludge, you're doing it wrong.

not me, someone else was doin it wrong! or i just can't get around the texture. it's like dinner oatmeal?

no, it shouldn't be like oatmeal at all

yeah it wasn't really like that i just don't like wet mushy things and the rice/cheese combo is wrong to me. i won't ruin this thread with anymore challops though!

mmm, challop risotto...

came across a recipe for barley risotto, am very curious to try it: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2008/12/healthy-delicious-barley-risotto-recipe.html

do prawns go with mushrooms in risotto, or do I need to pick one?

Try it and tell us!

hmm, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/recipes/article2968755.ece

i am not putting marscapone in, but i guess that means it isn't quite a chocolate and fish combination.

i dont know abt this idea - i think the lemon + prawn sounds good, but mushroom as well is kind of pushing it

hmm
i think shrimps and mushrooms play rather well together

prawns + mushrooms = great! Salmon would also be good. So would asparagus.

cover it all with a sauce made from melted swiss cheese and cadbury eggs
mmmmm

this is what i'm doing
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Chuckles.png

made a really good one tonight

i still don't like rice risotto but this is really good http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/02/dining/021mrex.html
i added chopped kale before the chicken broth

what other vegetables can i use

I am maybe making this during the weekend, kind of worried tbh

asparagus or peas both work imo

I like peas in everything though.

i think i would like peas in it

and asparagus but it's out of season

I just buy two bags of peas every time IO go to the grocery because I know I'm going to be using them. They don't even get written down on the list.

peas/edamame & sweet baby carrots chopped into little discs & baby corn? small stuff that holds its shape is good in risotto i think.

also, bright colours.

God damn I love risotto. I think it's my favourite food. Well, rice cooked in stock generally (paella, kabsa, pilaf, etc etc etc), of which risotto is perhaps the most flexible and ergo the best.

Here are some risotto variations I have cooked:

• Carrot and pea
• Roasted tomato
• Ham hock and leek
• Asparagus and lemon
• Mushroom
• Chicken
• Fennel and lemon
• Chocolate (with mascarpone and hazelnuts)

tell me more about this chocolate one

tell me less about it

i tend to make this incredibly simple risotto when im in the mood for it (elizabeth david 4eva)

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/leisure/dine/recipes/10460503.Recipe__Risotto_with_mushrooms/

i stand for chocolate risotto

List your culinary disasters.

that was the implication, yes

but i think it could work - pizza does, unsure about pasta, why not risotto. italy is a great country

yes italy is great.

i might be taking italian citizenship to remain a eu citizen.

good choice

i have two cypriot grandparents but no knowledge of greek ;_; i don't think i'd have the gall to take citizenship in a country i couldn't speak the predominating tongue of

whereas i do :D

could also get chilean citizenship, and i'll be eligible for canadian in a few years. feel that perhaps that sort of citizenship collection is probably not allowed tho.

sort of back on topic, i can't think of any chilean restaurants i've been to. surely it has a great cuisine though

it's ok and there are things i love because of nostalgia but actually nothing out of this world, peruvian is better ;_;

i want to eat risotto for dinner now

so do i but without the motility to cook it, seems that a takeaway pizza it is

cheers for the peruvian tip tho - and as my gf is a vegan-aspirant veggie i'll trust you to know what's best

Like all Latin American food would be hard for veggie inclined unfortunately :/

Chocolate risotto is the logical halfway point between risotto and rice pudding, duh.

I make a coconut and raspberry one, it's a rice pudding but with risotto rice, it's amazing

anybody have a recipe for risotto with garlic scapes

Last night I did carrot and mushroom with mustard and tarragon. Winner.

Thanks to this thread revive, I will make risotto tonight! I grilled a bunch of summer veg yesterday so that's ready to go; I need to do something with a whole chicken today--maybe grill it, pull off the meat, use bones for a quick stock? Chicken seems kind of wrong in risotto to me but that is just me, obv.

Runner bean and griddled sweet peppers = winner.

Emma has decided she has eaten enough risotto for the rest of her life. I might have to divorce her as i do all the cooking and it is my signature dish.

How is your jambalaya? It's basically just risotto with onions, bell pepper and celery. Good for variation.

risotto has celery

jambalaya does not have parmesan cheese

i could go on

I love all the one pot rice dishes and ofc there are similarities but the jambalaya recipe I have is basically rice cooked in bbq sauce, it's delicious and doing a v different thing

That's gumbo?

I mean, fake gumbo, but jambalaya isn't sauce based?

thank u sauce-based jambalaya

that's amore??? xp

Minced pork fried on a high heat (to get crispy bits) with fennel seeds, loads of black pepper, and a tin of chopped tomatoes, maybe add some borlotti beans if you're feeling really hearty, makes for an excellent risotto.

My mind is wandering off imagining a world where pork mince is a rice substitute :)