I love experimenting with different flavour combinations, and I often cross foods and ingredients from one dish to another. We love using the Chorizo and Sun-Dried tomato combination, from savoury cookies to pizza toppings, and so I thought to myself, "why not risotto?" So, I tried it and it was delicious! I find that the gamut of flavours provided by the primary ingredients is enough for the dish, and there is really no need for additional spices or herbs. But that is just me; feel free to spice up this dish as you like.
For 2-3 people, you will need:
* I am using cured chorizo, therefore I don't cook it beforehand. If you are using fresh chorizo, the same recipe will work after you cook your chorizo. Do not add uncooked chorizo to your risotto!
** You can replace the white wine with chicken stock, if you prefer.
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
I'll just stress one point before we begin; risotto is a dish that takes more active time than most other dishes. By this, I mean you will be constantly engaged with the dish and won't have much time to run off and do something else quickly. Therefore, it is imperative that you have your preparation, or mise-en-place, ready to go before you begin cooking (as pictured above).
Start with a large frying pan on medium-high heat, add the olive oil and the shallots.
Fry the shallots until browned.
Now reduce the heat to low, add your arborio rice, and stir the rice around the pan for about 30 seconds.
Add the white wine by pouring it all over the rice, and keep gently stirring.
In a few minutes, the wine will get absorbed by the rice, and the liquid in the pan will begin to disappear as you stir. What you are looking for is a texture that, when separated by the spatula, is not liquid enough to rejoin.
This is the time to add more liquid. Now we start with the chicken stock, adding one ladle at a time.
And again, constantly stir until you can separate the risotto with a spatula.
The key to a lovely, creamy risotto is adding just one ladle at a time.
And letting it all get absorbed.
After the third time ladling in your broth, taste one grain of rice before each new ladle to check the doneness of the rice. It might take you 20 minutes, or 750 ml of broth before your risotto is ready, but it depends on so many factors such as temperature, concentration of broth, variety of arborio, that it is better for you to check your own risotto.
When it is al dente, add the chorizo and sun-dried tomatos.
And stir them into the risotto, adding one last ladle of broth.
Allow it to simmer for half a minute, then remove from heat, add the butter and parmesan and mix. It may look like there is a lot of liquid in the pan, but it will get quickly absorbed, leaving you with a creamy and soft risotto. If you continue on heat until the liquid is fully absorbed, the risotto will dry out before serving.
And finally, plate and serve with parmesan slices (not shown). As a side dish, some blanched green beans would be delicious and aesthetically pleasing.
Note: You can see from the photos that I used whole pieces of sun-dried tomatoes. You might want to cut them into smaller, bite-sized pieces, as the large wholes can be a little cumbersome when eating.
For 2-3 people, you will need:
- 250 grams of arborio rice
- 100 grams of chorizo, sliced*
- 80 grams of sun-dried tomatoes***
- 1 litre of chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
- 250 millilitres of white wine**
- 15 grams of butter
- 1 small shallot, diced
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese (ideally freshly grated)
* I am using cured chorizo, therefore I don't cook it beforehand. If you are using fresh chorizo, the same recipe will work after you cook your chorizo. Do not add uncooked chorizo to your risotto!
** You can replace the white wine with chicken stock, if you prefer.
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
I'll just stress one point before we begin; risotto is a dish that takes more active time than most other dishes. By this, I mean you will be constantly engaged with the dish and won't have much time to run off and do something else quickly. Therefore, it is imperative that you have your preparation, or mise-en-place, ready to go before you begin cooking (as pictured above).
Start with a large frying pan on medium-high heat, add the olive oil and the shallots.
Fry the shallots until browned.
Now reduce the heat to low, add your arborio rice, and stir the rice around the pan for about 30 seconds.
Add the white wine by pouring it all over the rice, and keep gently stirring.
In a few minutes, the wine will get absorbed by the rice, and the liquid in the pan will begin to disappear as you stir. What you are looking for is a texture that, when separated by the spatula, is not liquid enough to rejoin.
This is the time to add more liquid. Now we start with the chicken stock, adding one ladle at a time.
And again, constantly stir until you can separate the risotto with a spatula.
The key to a lovely, creamy risotto is adding just one ladle at a time.
And letting it all get absorbed.
After the third time ladling in your broth, taste one grain of rice before each new ladle to check the doneness of the rice. It might take you 20 minutes, or 750 ml of broth before your risotto is ready, but it depends on so many factors such as temperature, concentration of broth, variety of arborio, that it is better for you to check your own risotto.
When it is al dente, add the chorizo and sun-dried tomatos.
And stir them into the risotto, adding one last ladle of broth.
Allow it to simmer for half a minute, then remove from heat, add the butter and parmesan and mix. It may look like there is a lot of liquid in the pan, but it will get quickly absorbed, leaving you with a creamy and soft risotto. If you continue on heat until the liquid is fully absorbed, the risotto will dry out before serving.
And finally, plate and serve with parmesan slices (not shown). As a side dish, some blanched green beans would be delicious and aesthetically pleasing.
Note: You can see from the photos that I used whole pieces of sun-dried tomatoes. You might want to cut them into smaller, bite-sized pieces, as the large wholes can be a little cumbersome when eating.
***Tip: Don't throw away your sun-dried tomatoes, refer to our "Let's not waste anything!" page, and check out few ideas on how to use them.
As with all the other recipes we put on this site, this is meant to be easy to follow. We are hobby chefs who love to cook, and we are always up for learning new techniques. If you know of anything in this recipe which can be done a different way, whether for increased ease of preparation or better taste, please add a comment below!
Whipped up by Shyamal Addanki
Whipped up by Shyamal Addanki
