Arborio and Red Rice Risotto With Baby Broccoli and Red Peppers
Source: cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/12738
Ingredients
- 1 cup short or medium-grain non-sticky red rice, like Bhutanese rice (3 cups cooked)
- 6 cups well-seasoned chicken or vegetable stock, as needed
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup minced onion
- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, to taste
- 1 red pepper, cut in small dice
- 23 cup arborio rice
- 1 to 2 garlic cloves (to taste), minced
- 1/2 cup dry white wine, like pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc
- 3/4 pound baby broccoli, stems peeled and sliced, flowers torn apart into smaller pieces by hand
- Freshly ground pepper to taste
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (1 to 2 ounces, optional)
- 2 tablespoons minced flat-leaf parsley
Directions
- To cook the red rice, combine with 2 cups water in a saucepan, add salt to taste and bring to a boil.
- Reduce the heat, cover and simmer 30 to 40 minutes, until all of the liquid has been absorbed by the rice.
- Remove from the heat, remove the lid from the pan and place a dish towel over the pan, then return the lid.
- Let sit for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Put the stock or broth into a saucepan and bring it to a simmer over low heat, with a ladle nearby or in the pot.
- Make sure that it is well seasoned.
- Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a wide, heavy nonstick skillet or saucepan.
- Add the onion and a generous pinch of salt, and cook gently until it is just tender, about 3 minutes.
- Add the red pepper flakes and the red bell pepper and continue to cook, stirring often, for another 5 minutes, until tender.
- Stir in the arborio rice and the garlic and stir until the grains separate and begin to crackle.
- Add the wine and stir until it has been absorbed.
- Begin adding the simmering stock, a couple of ladlefuls (about 1/2 cup) at a time.
- The stock should just cover the rice, and should be bubbling, not too slowly but not too quickly.
- Cook, stirring often, until it is just about absorbed.
- Add another ladleful or two of the stock and continue to cook in this fashion, stirring in more stock when the rice is almost dry.
- You do not have to stir constantly, but stir often.
- After 10 minutes, stir in the broccoli stems and flowers and continue to add broth and stir the rice for another 10 minutes or so, until the broccoli is crisp-tender.
- When the rice is just about tender all the way through but still chewy, add another ladleful of stock and the red rice.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Stir together for a couple of minutes, until the stock is just about absorbed, and add another ladleful of stock, the Parmesan and the parsley, and remove from the heat.
- The mixture should be creamy (add more stock if it isnt).
- Stir for about half a minute, then serve in wide soup bowls or on plates.