Farmer's Weekly (South Africa)
Real Cooking for Real Men
Risotto is not only truly delicious, but the skill required to make it takes your cooking to the next level. This dish aims to impress!
To make this meal for four diners, you will need:
350g Arborio risotto rice 220ml dry white wine 150g sundried tomatoes 120g Gorgonzola or the local blue cheese of your choice 40g rocket
40g fresh basil
1 ℓ chicken stock
100g butter plus a tablespoonful extra 150g fresh onion Freshly ground black pepper Salt For the stock: you can use a storebought stock cube or concentrate. Even better, you can thaw a litre of your home-made chicken stock.
1 Drain the oil from the sundried tomatoes, and cut them into slices each about 5mm wide. Peel and thinly slice the onion. Tear the basil and rocket.
2 Prepare (or defrost) the stock and bring this up to a medium simmer in a saucepan. Select a large, heavy-based frying pan and melt the butter. Sweat the thinly sliced onion in the butter until it is soft and translucent. Add the rice and give it a good stir. Drop the heat to a medium simmer and add the white wine. Give the rice an occasional stir, keeping an eye on the process.
3 Wait until all the wine has been absorbed by the rice before adding 50ml to 60ml of
the simmering stock. Stir until all the liquid has been absorbed by the rice. Repeat the process, 50ml at a time, until 900ml of the stock has been used. Don’t be tempted to hurry the process.
4 Now add the sundried tomatoes, and crumble the Gorgonzola over the mixture, stirring all the time. After a few minutes, add the last 100ml of stock and stir well.
5 Add the tablespoon of butter and the basil and rocket, and stir well. Season to taste, remembering that Gorgonzola is quite salty to begin with. Fluff it all up with a large fork, fit the lid and let it stand for a couple of minutes before serving.
• David Basckin is a freelance journalist and videographer. Email him at farmersweekly@caxton.co.za. Subject line: Real cooking.