Red Wine Risotto, Step by Step

I tend to use white wine for risotto, and no more than a glass, so this is a bit different. I had half a bottle of nice Otago Pinot Noir to finish, a real leftover which couldn't really be drunk. And I saw this recipe by Tamara, the queen of risotto! Tamara told me that as long as the wine didn't taste vinegary, I could use it, and so I did, maybe a little differently from her, but using the same pot, Le Creuset, which is great for making risotto.

Because the risotto was going to be red(dish) I also used a red onion (I alway use white for risotto, and brown if I cannot find white onions), and a big chunk of salted butter. Risotto tastes good if you start with some good fat, sorry! The butter in NZ is quite fat and tasty, and salted!  First sauté the onion, then add the rice (about 400 g of Arborio, it was for 4 people) and sauté the rice too: it has to be hot before you add the liquid! 

I put the wine in, didn't measure, possibly 300 ml or so, I didn't want to overdo it, as it was lunch after soccer practice for the boys, and my kids are still young!

Once the wine had evaporated I started adding the vegetable stock, little by little, stirring often. I know that there are no-stir risotto around, but with arborio do stir, and a risotto which is stirred is way superior in taste!

I keep the pot with the hot stock close to my risotto, I needed almost a litre of stock, maybe about 700 ml, it is good to have plenty just in case.

Yum! The risotto was ready in 20 minutes, and smelled and tasted great!

Everybody liked it, the Brussels sprout on top is just there as decoration, I had some from a different recipe (maybe next post?), but that cute little 'cabbage' went well with the risotto too! Serve with grated parmesan, if you like.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©