Yow. I nailed this one. Making risotto isn't really hard. It's just time consuming because you have you have actively cook for about an hour, if you include prep and reduction time.
A couple of weeks ago, I was in New York for my friend's 40th birthday party. The dinner, at Spina, was wonderful. It was three courses, and each course was excellent. My favorite dish, though, was Beet Risotto. It was then that I realized that I just loved Risotto and hadn't made it in about five years.
So, fast forward to the past weekend. I went to Pike Place Market on Saturday and picked up the shrimp, scallops, and truffle oil. The rest of the ingredients, I grabbed from the supermarket.
Making risotto is quite simple, but again, it's just very time consuming. Basically, you have two pans going... one with the rice/veggie/meat mixture, the other with the liquid base. In this case, the rice was simmering with onions and garlic. The shrimp is added at the very end. The liquid base consisted of three 8-oz bottles of clam juice and chicken stock. As the rice is cooking, you add one cup of the liquid until it's totally absorbed by the rice, then you add another cup, and so on until the rice is cooked.
It took about 35 minutes to reduce the risotto mixture. Then I just topped the risotto with the seared scallop, the yummy (and stupidly expensive) truffle oil and chopped chives.
All in all, I felt like a rock star when I tasted it. It was so good! If I can ever get another woman into my apartment, I'm going to make some form of risotto. It would actually be fun to make with someone else because it's very hands on.
mmmm
Posted by: lb | 06/02/2010 at 10:22 AM