Risotto

Here are all the links and videos for our risotto lab!

**RISOTTO:**

Our lab this week will focus heavily on knife skills and cooking techniques. This is an easy one to mess up on if you aren't paying attention so be careful!

Jobs
1. Blanch asparagus 2. Prep veggies (leeks, fennel, asparagus, lemon, chives) 3. Simmer stock 4. Make risotto

2. We will be making a traditional summer risotto. This is a very technical dish and requires your full attention when making it. There are a lot of ways that this dish can be cooked incorrectly so be careful.

 1. Use Cold Stock Adding chilly stock to a hot pan will cool everything down and mess up the cooking process. Keep stock at a simmer in a small pan so everything stays hot and cooks evenly.

2. Stir It Constantly (or Not at All) Stirring the rice constantly will add air into the risotto, cooling it down and making it gluey. But if you don’t stir enough, the rice will stick to the bottom and burn. Agitating the rice is important, because risotto’s creaminess comes from the starch generated when grains of rice rub against each other. So stir it often, but feel free to give your arms (and the rice) a break.

3. Add Too Much Stock If you dump in the stock all at once, you’re just boiling rice. By slowly adding stock, you allow the rice to bump up against each other, creating that creamy starch. Wait until the rice absorbs all the stock to add some more. And keep in mind the ratio–about 4 cups of stock for every cup of arborio rice.

4. Cook the Rice Till It’s Mushy Like pasta, the rice should be al dente–just cooked, with a little bite to it. If you can mold a risotto into a shape (yes, like some restaurants do) you’ve cooked it too much. Risotto should have body, but not be overly mushy and starchy. You’re not making rice pudding!  5. Use a Wide Pot If your pot is too wide, the rice will cook in a thin layer and won’t be able to bump and grind enough to generate starch. Another problem: there will be hot and cold spots in your pot, so choose one that fits perfectly over your burner.

6. Cook at Too Low a Heat Yes, risotto is supposed to be a slower cooking process; but if you cook it at //too// low a heat, it will never cook. The rice should be at a medium simmer throughout cooking.

7. Cook Vegetables with the Rice Except for your [|mirepoix], you should add already cooked vegetables into your risotto after the rice is finished cooking. This is especially important for tender greens like spinach, delicate herbs like chives, lemon zest, and veggies like asparagus, mushrooms, legumes. Again, you don’t want anything mushy in your risotto! Make sure you cook your vegetables seperately before adding them in.

8. Add Cheese Too Early Save things like mascarpone and Parmesan for the end of the cooking process. Fat will break under heat and it will be, in a word, yucky. When the rice is finished, we like to stir in some fresh whipped cream (unsweetened, of course) to give the risotto a light, silky texture. 

3. You will also be working with some vegetables that we have never worked with before. They are listed below. Make sure to watch the videos on how these should be washed and prepared.
 * Leeks
 * Fennel
 * Asparagus

4. The biggest issue for this lab will be time management. You will need to get the asparagus blanched ASAP so that you can start simmering your stock. Make sure the stock is simmered and not boiled!!

**Compost List** The following items will need to be placed in the compost when you are finished Leeks Fennel Asparagus Chives Lemon

Pan List
This is a list of cooking equipment that will be used for the different parts of the recipe Medium sauce pan for stock Stock pot for asparagus Large skillet for risotto