Entertaining during the holidays is a great way to show our appreciation for our family and friends. It also can be demanding, so it is important to plan your meal with easy to prepare and beautiful foods. We’ve found that risotto is a tasty dish that is easy to make, and can be served as a main dish with a simple salad or as a side dish accompanying a variety of main courses.
For this holiday season, we are featuring a basic risotto recipe, which can easily be adapted to suit each blood type. It can also be enhanced by adding saffron, vegetables, mushrooms or seafood. The key to making a perfect risotto is to cook it slowly, adding the liquid in increments so that rice has a chance to absorb it. This is what gives risotto that rich and creamy texture. This is what gives risotto the rich and creamy texture it has. A delicious risotto is not just food; it is an “event.”
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup Arborio rice (or short-medium grain rice)
- 1 or 2 cans of broth
- 1/4 cup olive oil, or enough to cook the onion and celery, and coat the rice
- 1 onion
- 4-8 stalks of celery
- 2 teaspoons of sage or poultry seasoning of choice
- Salt to taste
- Pepper or spices to taste (preferably white pepper)
- At least 1 tablespoon butter
Directions:
- Chop the onion and celery as you would for stuffing.
- Saute the onion and celery in the olive oil until tender.
- In a separate pan (with a pour spout would work best), heat 1 part broth and 1 part water until hot but not boiling. Add the rice to the oil mixture, stir to coat and cook until it starts popping or becomes more opaque, but don’t brown it.
- Now, start slowly adding the broth to the rice, this process takes 20 to 30 minutes, depending on how fast you add the broth and how high the heat is. To speed it up, add more broth at a time and use a higher heat. To get it nice and smooth, take your time, put heat on medium, and add about 1/4 cup of broth at a time. Once mixture thickens, add more broth so that it doesn’t burn, stir frequently. Keep an eye on it, as you don’t want it to dry out. If you add more water at a time, it won’t dry out as fast, but won’t end up as smooth. Once you’ve used up one can of broth, or it starts to look good, test it.
- Keep adding more liquid and cooking until it tastes done.
- The goal is “al dente”, like pasta, some like it softer than others, I usually overcook it a bit for the thanksgiving recipe, so it more resembles the softness of stuffing.
- After it’s done cooking, no sooner, add the butter. This gives it a nice appearance and creamier texture.
- Once you get a feel for it, it’s quite easy, and you can adapt the recipe in any direction. As long as you have the onions, oil, rice and broth, the rest is up to you.
- For types that can have dairy, sour cream or cheese is a nice addition.