Freezer-raid springtime risotto | Jamie Oliver recipes (2024)

FAQs

Freezer-raid springtime risotto | Jamie Oliver recipes? ›

Trim and chop the chicken thighs, then peel and crush the garlic. Add both to the casserole dish along with the rice and stock. Pick in most of the thyme leaves, reserving a few for garnish. Stir everything to combine, cover tightly with tinfoil and cook for 35 to 40 minutes, until the rice is cooked.

Trim and chop the chicken thighs, then peel and crush the garlic. Add both to the casserole dish along with the rice and stock. Pick in most of the thyme leaves, reserving a few for garnish. Stir everything to combine, cover tightly with tinfoil and cook for 35 to 40 minutes, until the rice is cooked.

Defrost the risotto overnight in the fridge before cooking. Once defrosted, keep refrigerated and cook within 48 hours. Empty the risotto into a pan and cook over a medium heat for 6-7 mins stirring occasionally. Ensure piping hot before serving.

As a general rule, 60g per person is perfect for a starter, light meal, or if you've bulked out the dish with other ingredients. For more generous portions, go with 75g each. Whatever type of risotto you're making, use piping hot stock – it means the grains will start to soften and cook straight away.

Risotto technique: cook a starchy ingredient slowly, adding liquid bit by bit and stirring. Aim: pull starch out for creaminess. What is the secret to best risotto?

Yes, the foundational creaminess of well-made risotto should come from the starches that the grains release slowly over the cooking process—but a bit of actual cream doesn't hurt, either. Make sure to season the risotto with salt after you've added the whipped cream.

The key, instead, is to undercook the risotto and cool it rapidly to prevent that rice from overcooking, so you can easily finish cooking it later.

If you are able to get white wine vinegar then you can add a tablespoon of this to the rice and let it boil away before adding any stock and this will often give some of the flavour of wine, whilst reducing the alcohol content.

Is Freezing Risotto A Good Idea? It's actually best not to freeze risotto. Cooked rice can become hard when frozen, and the texture of the risotto could get a bit grainy. You're better off not risking these changes and simple storing leftover risotto in the fridge instead.

What not to do with risotto? ›

Asparagus, peas, mushrooms, or whatever you decide to put into your risotto, will become too soft if you cook them at the same time. Being impatient: don't add all of your liquid (usually stock) to your risotto at once. Overcooking: don't overcook your rice! It should be al dente and have a bit of a bite to it.

I prefer the flavor of chicken broth or stock in risotto. If you're vegetarian, vegetable broth or stock will be just fine. I use regular broth for this recipe and not low-sodium, if you use low sodium just be sure to taste test and add more salt at the end as needed. Parmesan cheese.

Mixing in the right ratio of broth to rice is an important part of the process. Remember that it will always be 3 times as much broth as rice, meaning if you use 1 cup of rice you will need to use at least 3 cups of broth and the amount increases if there are more people.

"Don't stress about constantly stirring risotto," Salvatore says. "It's much better to stir once every 30 seconds and trust the cooking process to do its thing." Over-stirring is one way to quickly ruin a risotto's texture.

Arborio is the most popular short-grain rice for making risotto. It is capable of absorbing large amounts of liquid and produces a relatively creamy risotto with a hearty texture.

It's Creamy but Not Too Thick

The Italians have a saying for what perfectly cooked risotto should look like — it should be like “la onda,” a wave that slowly rolls to shore.