Red red wine
Good morning to everyone except restaurants who put an odd number of croquettes in an order.
Here’s life lesson #64 from chef Basford: whenever it starts to rain, turn to risotto and wine. Ideally at the same time, hence this week’s recipe for risotto al Barolo (basically a red wine risotto).
This recipe is another simple but saucy one, only requiring a small list of ingredients and 35 mins to make. Andiamo (‘let’s go’ in Italian. Duhhhh.).
This week’s album
The Very Best of Marvin Gaye
So many great albums to choose from so the greatest hits one is a good place to start. I spent my childhood listening to this album - especially when in the kitchen cooking and serving dinner aged three (Mum started us young, no minimum wage back then). You’d have to go a long way to find a better collection of songs on one disc.
Let’s talk about Alba
(the place, not the actress)
I first came across risotto al Barolo when visiting Alba - a town in the northern Italian region of Piedmont. When we can all travel again in like 2031 I’d thoroughly recommend a trip there. It’s the home of Ferrero, i.e. the makers of Nutella (have you tried our), and its food is incredible (as are the surrounding towns’).
The area is known for two things: its truffles and its wine.
Side note: I was there for the white truffle fair which runs from early October till the end of December (in line with the arrival of the white truffles). Again, highly recommend.
Truffle - the edible fungi, not the commonly used dog’s name.
Piedmont produces some of the finest wines in Italy, and when you’re wandering around the area you’ll see many restaurants advertising ‘risotto al Barolo’. Barolo is known as ‘the king of wine and the wine of kings’ and is unique to this area.
(You’re here for food, not wine, so I won’t bore you with Barolo bantz. Suffice to say, if you want to know more about the wine then there’s a stack of stuff on Google.)
Considering its price tag I’m not convinced every restaurant is using Barolo, but if you can get hold of it then it makes for an incredible dish. If you want something a little more friendly on the Monzo then any full-bodied red works. I used a Chianti. Wine is the key ingredient here (and to life really) so try to get something decent.
A Barolo vineyard in Piedmont.
A good trick? Use something you’d be happy to drink. The quality will be good and you’ll have a few glasses left over to enjoy alongside your risotto.
Two more things:
1. Get a good stock. Traditionally you’d use a chicken stock but veg stock also works. As does mushroom stock which creates an incredible flavour.
2. Your Italian word for the day is ‘mantecare’. There’s no simple English translation for this word but it’s basically an Italian technique for adding a fat into a dish and working it in so it creates a deliciously creamy texture.
So if you want to ‘mantecare’ this risotto you would add butter, cream, or cheese towards the end to get your desired creaminess. I suggest using butter and mascarpone.
What you need
The below serves 4. It takes 10 mins to prep, then 25 mins to cook.
1.5 litres good stock (chicken, veg or mushroom)
50g butter
1 shallot (very finely diced)
400g risotto rice (e.g. carnaroli, arborio, vialone nano)
300ml good red wine
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
75g cold butter (cut into small pieces)
100g mascarpone
Ready, steady, cook
1. Add your stock to a saucepan and bring to the boil. Then turn things down as low as possible so it’s barely simmering.
2. Place a heavy-based pan on a medium-high heat. Add the 50g of butter, melt it, then add in the diced shallot and a good pinch of salt. Turn down to a medium-low heat and sweat for about 8 mins or until soft and translucent with no colour.
3. Once the shallots are cooked, turn the heat back up and add your rice. Stir so that every grain of rice is coated in the butter. Toast the rice for a few moments until all the grains are hot to the touch (just be careful not to colour the shallots).
4. When all the grains are hot, add your red wine. The wine should start to bubble away very quickly. Allow the wine to reduce and cook out. This will allow the flavour of the wine to intensify whilst removing the alcoholic taste.
5. When the wine is almost completely evaporated, add the stock to it a ladleful or two at a time. It’s important at his stage to stir often. This agitates the rice, and encourages the starch out, which helps make things extra creamy.
NOTE: It’s very important to continually scrape down the side of the pan so that all your rice is cooking together. If you leave some grains unattended they’ll cook at a different rate and won’t be pleasant to eat when mixed in at the end. Don’t leave a good soldier behind.
6. After each addition of stock has almost evaporated, add another addition and continue this process. The stock should bubble away gently. You don’t want it rapidly boiling, but it does need to be more than just a simmer. Depending on your rice this will take about 15-17 mins.
After about 12-14 mins start to monitor the consistency of the risotto and add slightly less stock each time. If you add too much the risotto will be too ‘soup-y’ and you’ll end up having to overcook the rice in order to get the right consistency.
7. Your rice grains need to be soft but still ‘al dente’. There should be a noticeable bite to them. Keep on trying the grains in the final 5 mins to see what stage they’re at. Also take note of the seasoning level and add any more salt if needed. This will largely depend on how salty your stock was to start with.
8. When you’re satisfied that the rice is nicely cooked, turn off the heat. Place a tea towel over the pan and let it rest for a minute. Then add a few twists of freshly ground black pepper and beat in the cold, diced butter using a wooden spoon. Really work it so that the butter emulsifies and the risotto becomes deliciously creamy. Finally do the same with the mascarpone. For an added punch, grate over some Parmesan as you serve the risotto.
Final thought
Not much more to say on this week’s recipe, so let me throw it back to our previous ones. If you’ve lost track of a few of them then fear not…
On my website you can read all the recipes in one place. Hope that’s of use.
Enjoy your time in the kitchen. Same time next week.
Fraser
Last week’s results
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