My In-laws were coming (again) for dinner and so were two of hubby's nephews. So we were 6 + Baby, and I decided to make different types of risotto. I still had left-over ragù, I had bought mushrooms and had not planned to use them in my weekly menu, and I had the brilliant idea to make chestnut-risotto. So here it goes. Again, unfortunately, I did all of this without sticking to closely to a recipe, so there won't be any indications to grams or Milliliters.
As you might have guessed, the base of all of the risottos is, well, risotto. Who would have thought that???
Risotto
Risotto-Rice (Arborio)
Onion
Olive Oil
Hot Broth (I made it with beef stock-cubes, but of course you can make it from scratch or with vegetarian cubes)
Just so you know, I had about 2,5 liters of broth and 800gr of uncooked rice and there were 5 strong eaters + one picky one and I still have some in the freezer....
Prepare broth and keep hot. Dice onion and fry in olive oil until light golden. Add rice and turn with wooden spoon until glazed with hot oil from all sides. Add a couple of ladles of broth and stir until rice has absorbed all liquid. Continue until rice is done (not too mushy though, the center still has to be "al dente"). You might not have to use all liquid or maybe you need to prepare some more broth. Of course you could add some white wine with one of the broth-ladles.
Risotto ai Funghi
'Shrooms :-))) (champignon or porcini)
Parsley
White Wine
Olive oil
Cut mushrooms in thin slices and fry in oil. Add white wine and let simmer and evaporate most of it. Add parsley and if it's too dry some of the broth.
Mix well with the cooked risotto, and here's the result
Risotto with Chestnuts
Chestnuts (about 25-30 pieces)
Sugar
With a sharp knife cut two lines on the flat side of the chestnuts, one vertically and one horizontally.
Bring water to the boil and add chestnuts, let boil for 10-15 minutes. Take out one by one and peel off the hard outer shell and the soft dark skin (it leaves a bitter taste). Leave some chestnuts as a whole, cut the others into small pieces.
In a small pan melt 2 tablespoons of sugar until liquid, then add water (the sugar might become one solid piece upon contact with water, but be patient, it'll dissolve again). Stir until you have a nice syrupy liquid, then add the whole chestnuts and let boil a few minutes until nicely caramelized from all sides.
Add broken chestnuts to the rice about halfway through the cooking-process, continue with ladle / broth / simmering as described above. When the risotto is done, use the caramelized chestnuts to decorate. Here we go:
Risotto al Ragù
Left-Over Ragù (recipe is
here or
here)
Risotto
Mix. Done. Picture is bad. Sorry.
