FLDG CHALLENGE: Make up your own risotto!

[Jenise]

gnoshed

I would spell that "noshed". Are you Gnostic, perhaps?

No, but I do gnash my teeth now and then.

[Jenise]

Er, do you always keep rice in your bedroom? Not that I want you to divulge TOO much of your personal, ah, preferences. But I'm always looking for a new hobby.....

So I tried the risotto challenge myself last night. Despite not having rice.

Not exactly the brightest bulb in the lamp, it didn't strike me that all the groceries in my area would be closed by the time I got out of work on New Year's Eve. So yesterday I drove home without being able to stock up on provisions.

However, I remembered an old trick that my friend's mom from the Dominican Republic used to pull once in a while. She made "risotto" from pasta. It was good, too, if memory serves. But for some reason I never tried it myself.

Last night I did.

And it worked great!

I took some plain ol' dried spaghetti and broke it up into small bits. Then I saute'd the bits in olive oil with some chopped onion (for less time than I'd saute rice, since dry pasta will brown/burn more quickly of course). Then a splash of white wine to reduce, and then the usual slow stock addition (I used roast turkey stock I made from the Christmas bird). Butter and a handfull of grated Parm at the end, and a little parsley. That was it - no "con fungi", "marinara" or any of that jazz. Just plain pasta "risotto".

Wifey and I both raised our glasses in the general direction of the DR. We hoped.

Re the rice in the bedroom: since you came to us recently, you haven't followed the last year of hell in which my husband and I embarked on a four month remodel of our entire first floor, beginning last January, which caused us to move into our upstairs bedroom where we have lived since last January with five really pissed off cats, a microwave, a toaster oven, a coffee grinder, and Bob's BATV (big-assed TV). A piece of office furniture was repurposed as a temporary pantry, and that's where the rice or at least all things like it (if you recall, I mentioned purchasing it when we got to the point that I "smelled freedom"--now you get what I meant) usually went. Nothing on this project went as planned (I know, they never do, but we've had the kind of bad luck they make movies about) and essentially we are still living this way, though in the last two weeks I've regained full use of the new kitchen. Nothing else down there is finished, however. You are now up to date.

But I'm glad you didn't get to the store, because this challenge was really all about making do with what you have. And pasta does work well this way! I've used orzo in the past, but I love that you had to resort to breaking up spaghetti. Thanks for playing.

Oh, I get what you're saying. At first I thought you were just putting together some arbitrary plate.

Osso Buco Taco?

rwj

Hmmm...I like that! Then let's skip the tomato and cheese and top it with hot, lightly wilted escarole with a pinch of red chile flakes and spritzed with a shot of vinegar.

I'm liking this....

Nah, let's top it with a nice, crispy escabeche made from cabbage, carrots, pickled japs, and jicama.

rwj

... five really pissed off cats....

All you had to say was "five cats". "Pissed off" is redundant.

Yeah, I've caught allusions to your "Money Pit" saga in various postings. What a tortuous odyssey you're embroiled in! I'm glad the kitchen is at least usable now. Always good to have the 2nd most fun room in the house operational.

I don't usually diddle much with Risotto because we (just my husband and I) like this version so much. It's a knock-off of one I saw being made at DeLaurenti Deli at the Pike Place Market in Seattle a few years ago:
1-1/4 cup Aborio rice
1/2 lb. hot/spicy Italian sausage
4 oz. Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
1 cup dry white wine
2-1/2 cups chicken stock
1 large shallot diced
1 TBS. butter
1/2 TBS. olive oil
1 cup grated Asiago cheese
I use a medium size non-stick pan. Squeeze the sausage out of the casings, crumble and brown it. Drain and set aside. In the same pan saute the chopped shallot in the olive oil oil & butter. Add the rice and see that it's coated with the oil & butter. Add the white wine and let it reduce, then add the chicken stock, about 1/2 cup at a time and stir, uncovered, until the rice is done (about 20 minutes) and add the sausage back in, then the Gorgonzola. Serve with the Asiago cheese on top.

This makes a meal for us and... yeah, I usually have all these ingredients on hand, thanks to a large pantry and a freezer in the garage.


Edited to add RCP for archival purposes--Jenise

Sounds great, Katie! I have a sausage and chard risotto that's part of the rotation here. It's good but the Gorgonzola/Asiago combination sounds much more rich and luxurious (for lack of a better term).

Going to have to try that.

[Jenise]

That *does* sound good! Italian sausage is one of those things I crave if I don't have it every so often, but I never thought of putting it in a risotto. Now that I have your recipe, Katie, that's going to change. Thanks!

I don't usually diddle much with Risotto because we (just my husband and I) like this version so much. It's a knock-off of one I saw being made at DeLaurenti Deli at the Pike Place Market in Seattle a few years ago:
1-1/4 cup Aborio rice
1/2 lb. hot/spicy Italian sausage
4 oz. Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
1 cup dry white wine
2-1/2 cups chicken stock
1 large shallot diced
1 TBS. butter
1/2 TBS. olive oil
1 cup grated Asiago cheese
I use a medium size non-stick pan. Squeeze the sausage out of the casings, crumble and brown it. Drain and set aside. In the same pan saute the chopped shallot in the olive oil oil & butter. Add the rice and see that it's coated with the oil & butter. Add the white wine and let it reduce, then add the chicken stock, about 1/2 cup at a time and stir, uncovered, until the rice is done (about 20 minutes) and add the sausage back in, then the Gorgonzola. Serve with the Asiago cheese on top.

This makes a meal for us and... yeah, I usually have all these ingredients on hand, thanks to a large pantry and a freezer in the garage.


Edited to add RCP for archival purposes--Jenise

Katie: Gene and I loved your risotto recipe, it was savory, rich and perfect for our damp and rainy night. May I suggest that you don't limit yourself to just this recipe, as the world of risottos is vast, and wonderful. I love making seasonal risottos. One of my faves is an asparagus and fresh pea made in the spring when both vegetables are at their best. It is light, and always a hit. Another fave is a very simple one made with beef consumé, sherry wine and parm. cheese Another is the basic risotto with the addition of butternut squash. Since this squash is a pain to peel and cut up, I buy it in season, bring it home and ask Gene to peel and slice. His big, strong hands make short work of it. I then cut up the slices he makes into chunks and freeze in Food Saver bags. There is just something about the risotto and butternut squash that is so comforting.
Guess what? As I type this I am eating a smalll portion of your risotto along with my grapefruit for breakfast. It is even better today!

I'm kinda late to the game on this one, having just noticed the thread late last week. But it became an inspiration. Risotto is something that we have never made but definitely wanted to try. I had the pleasure of dining at Champaign CC several times and a wild mushroom risotto with seared scallops used to be on the menu. Not only was it delicious, it was a perfect match for the pinot noirs on the wine list, making both Cindy and I happy. The third inspiration was the discovery of a $15 RRV PN.....and I was looking for an excuse to try it out.

So on Saturday I scoured the internet for recipes. Following the rules of this challenge wasn't something of interest considering we'd never ever made risotto before. But as it turned out, I only needed to shop for some fresh mushrooms....and probably could have gotten by with the large assortment of dried mushrooms we have. Anyway, the risotto was made from arborio, dried porcini, fresh portobella and shiitake, white wine, chicken broth, parsley, and parmigiano-reggiano. I seared scallops in grapeseed oil for 2 minutes a side and topped the risotto with them. The result was very tasty....and there were no leftovers.

The wine for the night was Irony Russian River Valley "Jesse's Block Reserve" that I had picked up at Costco for $15. My evaluation is this: I went back today for a case.

Damn, Mike, looks like you did pretty well with your first try!

Damn, Mike, looks like you did pretty well with your first try!

Thanks, we were very happy with the outcome. The dish is a repeat, especially since those mushrooms just shout, "Pinot noir!" And I didn't think the amount of stirring required was that overbearing. We've made dishes that were a lot more labor-intensive than this. It does help that the scallops are pretty simple to sear.

[Jenise]

Damn, Mike, looks like you did pretty well with your first try!

Thanks, we were very happy with the outcome. The dish is a repeat, especially since those mushrooms just shout, "Pinot noir!" And I didn't think the amount of stirring required was that overbearing. We've made dishes that were a lot more labor-intensive than this. It does help that the scallops are pretty simple to sear.

You got a nice crusty sear on them too. The dish looks fabulous! I like the idea of combining scallops and mushrooms, especially with your intended purpose of matching to pinot noir. A comment on the getting by with dried mushrooms, though: dried mushrooms are a good source of flavor 1) in a braised (long cooking time) food or 2) to make a mushroom-flavored broth, but texturally in a fresh preparation like a risotto some/many would be too chewy--you did right to buy fresh.

That looks great MikeH! Thanks also for the note on the wine. It is darn tough to find a RRV Pinot for under $20. I will keep an eye out for it.

Damn, Mike, looks like you did pretty well with your first try!

Thanks, we were very happy with the outcome. The dish is a repeat, especially since those mushrooms just shout, "Pinot noir!" And I didn't think the amount of stirring required was that overbearing. We've made dishes that were a lot more labor-intensive than this. It does help that the scallops are pretty simple to sear.

You got a nice crusty sear on them too. The dish looks fabulous! I like the idea of combining scallops and mushrooms, especially with your intended purpose of matching to pinot noir. A comment on the getting by with dried mushrooms, though: dried mushrooms are a good source of flavor 1) in a braised (long cooking time) food or 2) to make a mushroom-flavored broth, but texturally in a fresh preparation like a risotto some/many would be too chewy--you did right to buy fresh.

Jenise,

Scallops were one of those food items we liked but never prepared until 18 months ago. The local fishmonger assured us they were easy to prepare, and they were. Most of the time we have seared them using EVOO for inclusion in aglio e olio. This past summer we grilled a batch for dinner. Those were pretty good too. With these being used in the risotto, I opted for the higher smoke point and lighter taste of grapeseed oil v. EVOO.

Thanks for the heads up regarding the use of dried mushrooms. That's something we haven't done much and aren't too familiar.

That looks great MikeH! Thanks also for the note on the wine. It is darn tough to find a RRV Pinot for under $20. I will keep an eye out for it.

Dave,

I had tried a bottle of their regular RRV offering at a price of $20 also from Costco. It was okay but indistinguishable from a host of $20 PN. This Jesse's Block Reserve bottling is very tasty and unbelievable QPR at $15.

Um MIke, did you forget that I can make it to your house in 90 minutes ??

Um MIke, did you forget that I can make it to your house in 90 minutes ??

Au contraire....we think too highly of you to foist our food experiments on you!!

Foist, man, foist!!