Easy Vegetable Risotto Recipe - A Dish of Daily Life (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to a good risotto? ›

Arborio rice: Essential to make a perfectly creamy risotto. Vegetable broth: Gives the risotto more flavor than cooking with water. Veggies: Fresh asparagus, tomato, and carrot work best in our version. Fresh basil: This finishing touch infuses the best vegetarian risotto with so much flavor.

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.

In order to make regular Vegetable Risotto, Hylian Rice, Goat Butter and Rock Salt must be cooked together with at least one from Swift Carrot, Endura Carrot, or Fortified Pumpkin a combination of vegetables which does not include carrot or pumpkin will make a version of Veggie Rice Balls instead.

Arborio rice is the key to making a creamy pot of risotto. It's firm, chewy, and blends especially well with other ingredients such as the stock and the butter. However, if you don't seem to have arborio on hand, Carnaroli or Maratelli are fitting substitutes.

Aromatics like shallots, garlic, and thyme build layers of flavor, while gradually adding hot stock as you stir helps coax the starches out of the arborio rice for the creamiest risotto. We love incorporating mushrooms for added flavor, but feel free to make the dish without—or swap in your favorite vegetable!

In Italy, when it is not used as a complete meal, risotto is considered a main dish, and is usually served with small portions of meat or light vegetable side dishes. For example, it is very common to pair risotto with a couple of lemon escalopes, or with bresaola and arugula.

​For making risotto, avoid any long-grain rice varieties. They are less starchy and are not going to achieve a creamy texture. Basmati, Jasmine, Wild Rice, Sushi Rice, Brown Rice, Wild Rice, and Parboiled Rice are not suitable for making the risotto.

It's hearty and filling — a complete meal in itself. While Arborio rice is most commonly used for risotto, any short- to medium-grain variety will work.

Is risotto a meal on its own? ›

Risotto can be both a main dish and a side dish, depending on how it is prepared and served.

Frying the rice definitely adds a nutty, toasted, flavor. It would be unfortunate to give that up just for convenience. I have been told that frying the rice produces more individualized grains of rice in the finished product.

A mainstay of cuisine in Northern Italy, risotto alla Milanese is made with starchy Arborio rice cooked in a flavorful combination of beef broth, white wine, shallots, and saffron powder.

We par cook it. We make the recipe without finishing it with cream or butter or cheese. We pour the hot risotto onto a sheet tray to cool quickly and then store it in a container. Once we are ready to serve, we reheat the risotto with a little chicken stock, and finish with cream, butter, and some parmesan cheese.

The most important thing when preparing risotto is choosing the right rice, since long or sushi grains won't work. One chef favorite: carnaroli rice. Many recipes call for arborio, but longer-grained carnaroli is key to that sought-after creaminess (plus it's harder to overcook).