Risotto

I like risotto OK, but it's not my favourite food so it doesn't get made a lot in my house. Watching various versions of MasterChef has made me want to get some practice at it though, and having my friend Matthias visiting from Portugal was a good opportunity. I also wanted to test out partial advance preparation.

This risotto was made from bits and pieces from the pantry. I had half a kabocha squash that I peeled, cubed and roasted …

… and I picked some runner beans from the garden …

… and grated and shaved some of my home made parmesan cheese:

I used some frozen chicken stock too - I keep on making stock and freezing it, then have to remember to use it up.

I started with some shallots and garlic that I sweated in olive oil until they were well and truly softened …

… then added some white wine, cooked that off, then started adding the hot stock, shaking and stirring and adding more …

… until the rice was about half cooked. Then I spread it out on a large dish, pressing clingfilm over it to stop any nasty skin forming, and left it in the pantry to go cold:

Apparently this is how they do it in restaurants.

Later on, when Matt had come back from his adventure of that day, I loosened the half cooked risotto with more hot stock, returned it to the pan, and continued the cooking process:

When the rice was almost done I added the roast squash and beans …

… then stirred in the grated parmesan

I served it with pan fried salmon steaks …

… and a little shaved parmesan and pepper:

I think it was good risotto, the rice was firm and the risotto oozed over the plates. It's still not my favourite thing though.