I Tried Ina Garten’s Recipe for One-Pot Oven Risotto and It Just Might Be the Best Rice Dish I’ve Ever Tasted (2024)

FAQs

Can you make risotto ahead and reheat? ›

Pro tip: You can make your risotto ahead of time!

If you want to make your risotto ahead and serve it later, follow the recipe up to the final addition of stock, and then STOP. The risotto will be slightly undercooked. To re-warm, you just add the last ladle of stock, then the cream and cheese.

Many people believe risotto requires constant stirring and attention, but this is a myth. You can make a beautiful creamy risotto by toasting the rice for a few minutes in the fat and aromatics, then adding three-quarters of the broth, covering, and simmering for 10 to 15 minutes, until the rice is just al dente.

Whatever type of risotto you're making, use piping hot stock – it means the grains will start to soften and cook straight away. It's a good idea to keep your stock in a covered pan over a very low heat on the back of the hob while the risotto cooks.

Cook risotto, sear meat and deep-fry chips, all with a single appliance: the Rational VarioCookingCenter®.

The key, instead, is to undercook the risotto and cool it rapidly to prevent that rice from overcooking, so you can easily finish cooking it later.

Use Salted Water Instead of Broth in Risotto

It's an ingenious tip on many levels. First and foremost, you don't have to run to the store to buy stock, which saves you time and money. Also, the flavor of store-bought broths or stocks varies widely and can sometimes overpower the other ingredients in your risotto.

Arborio is the most popular short-grain rice for making risotto. It is capable of absorbing large amounts of liquid and produces a relatively creamy risotto with a hearty texture. Carnaroli is a plumper, larger grain of rice that has a high starch content.

It may come as a surprise to purists who always use arborio rice, but regular long-grain rice works well in this risotto. You can use as little as 4 cups or as much as 6 cups broth in this recipe. If don't like a runny risotto, use the smaller amount. If you like your risotto soupier, you'll need to add more broth.

I prefer the flavor of chicken broth or stock in risotto. If you're vegetarian, vegetable broth or stock will be just fine. I use regular broth for this recipe and not low-sodium, if you use low sodium just be sure to taste test and add more salt at the end as needed.

Remove the pan from the heat, add 1 knob of butter and the Parmesan, then stir well. Place a lid on the pan and allow to sit for 2 minutes – this is the most important part of making the perfect risotto, as this is when it becomes outrageously creamy and oozy like it should be.

What is Gordon Ramsay's recipe for risotto? ›

"Boil salted water, throw in the rice, boil it for nine minutes, strain it and throw it on a sheet pan. It's 90% cooked, so all you're doing is just picking it up. Once it's blanched, I can make risotto, from beginning to end, in three minutes."

Risotto alla parmigiana

Add the rice, brown it over high heat, and add some red wine. Continue cooking, stirring often and adding some hot broth, little by little. After about 12 minutes, when the risotto is still al dente, add some diced scamorza cheese and let it melt.

If your risotto is still hard, it hasn't finished cooking. Keep adding more stock until it becomes al dente or your preferred texture.

Generally, risotto isn't prepared ahead of time – because the best risotto is served fresh – but if you want to make it in advance, proceed as explained above, but stop cooking a few minutes before (when the grain is chewy but still crunchy in the middle).

You can keep leftover risotto in the fridge for about 2-3 days. Although it might be safe to eat after day 3, I still do not recommend it as the freshness might be compromised. I do not recommend freezing risotto, frozen rice will become mushy after reheating. No one will enjoy such an elegant dish after thawing.

Reheated risotto won't taste exactly like its former self, since the rice will cook a little more as it warms up and become less al dente, so transforming risotto into something completely new is a winning solution.

Expert-Verified Answer. To serve risotto throughout a service period without losing quality, stop cooking earlier, cool it down quickly, store it in the fridge, and reheat when needed.