The aged rice obtains greater consistency and cooking resistance, thanks to the maturation process in a suitable environment and at a controlled temperature.

Asparagus risotto with bacon

3 servings:

• 240 gr of Carnaroli rice 1 year aged
• green asparagus
• 250 gr of creamy fresh cheese (I used stracchino)
• bacon
• pearls of rosé vinegar  (optional)
• extravergine olive oil
• grated Parmigiano cheese 30 months aged
• salt
• pepper

Method

Let’s start with the preparation of the asparagus.

Wash the asparagus. With a knife remove a third of the stem and use a potato peeler to peel them up to half. Bring the water to a boil in a tall, narrow saucepan. Cook the asparagus for 8 minutes, trying to keep the tips out of the water. With a slotted spoon remove the asparagus and set aside the cooking water. Cut the asparagus into small pieces, keeping the tips aside for the decoration of the dish.

Let’s prepare the risotto!

Toast the rice in a pot and pour in the hot asparagus water. Gradually add the water and turn the risotto from time to time to help release starch. Five minutes before cooking (around 16 minutes) add the asparagus. Meanwhile, a separate pan, brown the bacon with a drizzle of oil. When cooked, stir in the fresh cheese, parmesan and raw oil over the heat. Plate the risotto.In a dish, place the risotto on the plate and add the cubes of bacon, the asparagus tips and the pearls of rosé vinegar. Serve your fine risotto with asparagus and crispy bacon with pearls of rosé vinegar.

L'articolo Asparagus risotto with bacon sembra essere il primo su Blog su Riso e Risotti - Sommelier del Riso.

Prepared with italian Carnaroli rice.

• 250 gr Carnaroli rice (0,60 lb)
• 200 gr of pumpkin (0,5 lb)
• 1 red onion
• extravergine olive oil
• 1 laurel leaf
• 125 ml of cooking cream (4 oz)
• dry white wine
• turmeric
• pistachios
• salt
• pepper

L'articolo Creamy pumpkin risotto sembra essere il primo su Blog su Riso e Risotti - Sommelier del Riso.

Very easy to prepare with a good italian rice for risotto.

2 servings:

• 160 gr of italian rice for risotto
• vegetable broth
• 150 ml of Mutti tomato puree
• golden onion
• morsels of mozzarella
• untreated lemon zest
• extra virgin olive oil
• Parmesan 30 months aged
• dry white wine
• salt and pepper

Method

Finely chop a small piece of golden onion in a blender and fry it in a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.  Add rice and toast it for two minutes over medium heat, add the salt and freshly ground pepper, then blend with a drop of white wine. Pour in the hot broth and cook, stirring occasionally. After 10 minutes add the tomato puree, mix well and cook for other 6 minutes. Turn off the heat and make the “mantecatura”,  adding Parmesan and olive oil. Serve the risotto on the plates and add the lemon zest and the morsels of mozzarella.

L'articolo Tomato and mozzarella risotto sembra essere il primo su Blog su Riso e Risotti - Sommelier del Riso.

Let’s see what its benefits are and how to cook it.

We often hear about red rice and its nutritional benefits, but be careful not to confuse two completely different products: red yeast rice and red whole rice.

Let’s see the differences between red yeast rice and red whole rice.

Red yeast rice is used in pharmaceuticals to produce supplements capable of lowering cholesterol. It is a common white rice which, when in contact with the Monascus purpureus yeast, activates a fermentation process that develops monacolin, a cholesterol-lowering substance, which it has the secondary effect of making the rice red.

Red whole rice, on the other hand, is a type of rice that has a red pericarp (the skin that covers the grain), thanks to the presence of anthocyanins, also present in black rice. Anthocyanins, in addition to giving the rice its red color, have an antioxidant action. Red rice is consumed in its whole grain version, so it is rich in fiber, lipids and mineral salts.

On the market there is also “pink rice”, a red rice that undergoes a deeper processing process and becomes semi-wholemeal. The advantage is to reduce cooking times, but the nutritional benefits of brown red rice are partially lost.

In Italy there are some recently spread varieties of red rice: the best known are Ermes rice, Orange rice and Risrus.

Let’s watch how to cook red rice it in a few simple steps.

The fastest method is with instant pot. If you don’t have that, you should need 30-40 minutes to cook it.

Instant pot red rice.

Ingredients:

• 100 gr of rice per 200 ml of water (ratio 1: 2)

100 gr = 0,23 lb

200 ml = 6,8 oz

Method.

Pour the rice and cold water into the pot, close the lid and bring the pot under pressure. We lower the heat and cook for 15 minutes from when the pot goes under pressure. We turn off the heat and let the pan vent before opening it.

Cooking in an instant pot is not only the fastest way: it also preserves the nutritional values ​​of the rice.

Try red rice in a colorful salad! Red rice with vegetables and gorgonzola with balsamic vinegar.

L'articolo How to cook red rice sembra essere il primo su Blog su Riso e Risotti - Sommelier del Riso.

It’s important to keep its nutritional characteristics and natural aroma.

Also known as “forbidden rice”, black Venere rice was born in Italy, in 1997. It was created by the chinese breeder Wang Xue Ren, arrived in Italy in 1989, after Tienanmen Square protests. He crossed a black chinese rice with an italian rice, so he created the first italian black rice.

Venere (also called Venus abroad) was the first black rice cultivated in Italy, but in a few years new black rices were created: Artemide black rice, but also Nerone, Violet and Ebano black rice.

These kind of rices are naturally black, thanks to the presence of anthocyanins. Black rice is a brown rice, so it has more nutritional values, like vegetal fats, fibers, vitamins and mineral salts. That’s also why it requires a long cooking time! About 30 – 40 minutes.

The aroma of black rice is totally natural, similar to toasted bread.

Let’s watch how to cook the black rice.

How to cook black Venus rice.

Quantity: 200 – 250 ml of water per 100 g of rice

Cooking time: 30 – 40 minutes

Method.

Toast the rice briefly with a drizzle of oil, then add hot water and cook for 30 minutes, keeping the heat low to the minimum on the smallest fire and the lid tightly closed. For the induction cooker, place the heat on level 3.

You can use it to sauté black Venus rice with the desired ingredients.

L'articolo How to cook black Venus rice sembra essere il primo su Blog su Riso e Risotti - Sommelier del Riso.

• 0,4 lb 0f Carnaroli rice
• Fresh porcini
• Butter
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Grated Parmesan cheese
• Licorice powder

L'articolo Gourmet Mushroom Risotto Recipe sembra essere il primo su Blog su Riso e Risotti - Sommelier del Riso.

Here’s how to make risotto in 5 easy steps.

History of risotto.

The peculiarity of the risotto lies in cooking the rice directly in its sauce, until it is completely absorbed. The risotto recipe began to spread around the mid-nineteenth century, mainly in Piedmont and Veneto. But a way to consume the “grains” without reducing them into flour or without boiling them has always been practiced since Roman times. The risotto can be traced back to the culinary preparations attributable to the “panisse” or “panizze” which involved cooking the grains of cereals (and legumes) directly in fats and other condiments to mix all the ingredients without reducing everything to mush. The term “panissa” is still used in some regional recipes not always related to rice.

Here’s how to make risotto.

Risotto is a sort of culinary ritual that has its rigidly marked phases. And so, even if the technique for preparing risotto has often been revisited by various chefs, the traditional recipe includes four inevitable phases: toast the rice, add the wine, cook the rice (until the liquid is used up) and creaming.

1) The rice choice.

Choosing the right rice is essential to make risotto. Arborio, Carnaroli, Roma, Baldo, S. Andrea and Vialone Nano are the classic traditional rice, ideal for risotto.

Also read The best rice for risotto.

2) Toast the rice.

vedi anche post “come tostare il riso”.

In a saucepan, heat extra virgin olive oil. Pour in the rice and, keeping the fire brisk, mix with a wooden spoon. The lipids of the oil close the porous part of the grain, especially in the pearl, and any microfractures created during the processing of the rice. In this way, the starch contained within the grain is prevented from dispersing in the broth, determining its good cooking resistance.

3) Pour the wine.

The rice is salted and then blended with white or red wine depending on the preparation. The alcoholic part is allowed to evaporate before proceeding with cooking in the broth. In addition to giving flavor, the nuance allows you to degrease the rice after roasting in oil. If you opt for dry roasting you can avoid blending.

4) Cooking.

Proceed by pouring boiling liquid over the rice until it is covered.

• Cooking with broth. The broth differs according to the recipe: the vegetable broth forms a neutral base and is prepared with celery, carrot and onion. The meat stock is used for more structured risottos, while for fish-based recipes, fumet (prepared with fish carcasses) or bisque (prepared with shellfish shells) are used and both have a vegetable base.
• Cooking with water. To keep the flavor of the rice and ingredients unaltered, you can simply use boiling water. When boiling resumes, stir the rice and lower the heat. You can add more broth during cooking, stirring the risotto too much from time to time, to favor the release of starch, but not too much, to avoid breaking or crushing the grains.

5) Creaming.

The last step of preparing the risotto takes place with the flame out. Traditionally, cold butter cut into small pieces and grated Parmesan cheese are used. In general, fatty products favor the shelling of the grains, which remain separated from each other, but well blended in a sort of “cream” typical of risotto, due to the release of rice starch during cooking and the addition of creaming. As an alternative to butter, extra virgin olive oil can be used.

L'articolo What is risotto? sembra essere il primo su Blog su Riso e Risotti - Sommelier del Riso.

Moreover a big and oval grain better absorbs condiments and liquid. Also the starch release is important to get a creamy risotto.

To choose the best rice for risotto, the Italian law n. 131 of 2017 identifies 6 varietal groups: Carnaroli, Arborio, Rome, Baldo, S. Andrea, Vialone Nano.

There would be a seventh variety, Ribe, which is not really suitable for risotto, but is mainly used to produce parboiled rice.

CARNAROLI

Known as the king for risotto rice, Carnaroli is a historic rice from 1945. It has a large and pearly grain. The pearl is the opalescent part of the grain that favors the absorption of condiments. It has a high amylose content, which makes the bean more resistant in cooking, a characteristic loved by chefs.

ARBORIO RICE
This Piedmontese risotto variety was selected in 1946 in Arborio, a small town in the province of Vercelli, hence the name of the rice. Unlike Carnaroli, it has a low amylose content. It has a very large grain, a central and extended pearl and a slightly square shape. It is certainly the best known Italian rice in the world.

ROMA RICE
Roma rice has a slightly smaller grain than Carnaroli and like Arborio it has a low amylose content. However, it remains a valid option for risottos, thanks also to the presence of the lateral center pearl and a good grain consistency.

BALDO RICE
Baldo rice belongs at the legislative level to the same varietal denomination group as Roma, called “Roma-Baldo”. In fact, rice is very similar in shape, size and amylose content: the main difference is that Roma is a pearl rice, while Baldo is crystalline. Tradition still includes it in the tradition of risotto, especially in Piedmont, where it was born in 1964 (two years after Rome), at the Experimental Rice-growing Station in Vercelli. The cultivation of Baldo is widespread above all in Lombardy and in the territory of the Po Delta PGI, between Emilia Romagna and Veneto, and only to a small extent in Piedmont.

S. ANDREA RICE
S. Andrea rice has a smaller grain than Roma and Baldo. It is a rice resistant to low temperatures, in fact the cultivation is widespread in the PDO territory of Baraggia, in Piedmont, where the temperature variations between day and night are more pronounced. It takes its name from the Abbey of S. Andrea Vercelli, where it is used for the preparation of the typical dish of the area, panissa, a risotto prepared with sautéed lard and salami in fat and cooked in bean broth.

Riso VIALONE NANO

Despite the small size of the grain, it has characteristics that make it ideal for risottos, such as the presence of the pearl, but above all the high amylose content, which guarantees exceptional cooking resistance. It cooks in less time than a long risotto A (such as Carnaroli or Arborio), but guarantees excellent cooking results. Vialone Nano was promoted in particular thanks to the IGP Nano Vialone Veronese, but its origins are Lombard. Born in 1937, it owes its name to the town of Sant’Alessio con Vialone, in the province of Pavia. Vialone Nano derives from Vialone Nero, an ancient medium-grain variety from 1903, so called because of the dark color of the plant: today we find it in small niche crops in the Pavia and Verona areas.

L'articolo What is the best rice for risotto? sembra essere il primo su Blog su Riso e Risotti - Sommelier del Riso.