Reasoning with Risotto

Lately, I've been fascinated with risotto. A creamy, thick, lovely risotto that sends all the low-carb people scrambling for cover. Back in the day - school -  risotto would mean parboiled rice, frozen pea-corn-paprika mix and some chicken. Yuck. Well, you could eat it if you were really hungry. Famished. That's the most you can say about it. Now, italian risotto is something quite different. I dont claim to be an expert (yet) but I've been conducting some experiments. Here's one of them, with some lessons learned. This recipe was inspired by my brother, who once served me the most delicious persillade I could ever think of.

Red wine & parsley risotto (with beef fillet)

(makes for one hungry person)

1 small onion, diced
0,75 dl chopped fresh parsley
1 dl arborio rice
1 garlic clove
1 tbsp butter
1 - 1,5 dl red wine
3-4 dl chicken stock
0,5 dl grated parmesan
Black pepper

~200+ gr beef fillet
Butter
Salt, pepper

Preparation: take the meat to room temperature approx. 1 hr before frying.
1. Dice the onion, chop parsley, grate cheese. Put the chicken stock in a kettle, mild heat (hot but not boiling) and keep it warm.
2. Heat the butter in a deep pan, saute onions. Set oven to 200 Celsius (you need this for the meat later on).
3. Add rice, let it aquire slightly glassy appearance stirring it constantly on the pan.
4. Add red wine, let lightly simmer with occasional stir until the liquid is absorbed.
5. Add some of  the stock. Let the rice absorb it, stirring once in a while.
6. Repeat 5. Heat another pan for frying the meat.
7. Fry the meat, browning all sides. Cover the meat with tin foil and put the it in the oven for 5-10 mins depending how well done you want it.
8. Keep adding the stock until the rice is soft but has a tinge of "al dente" to it. Add the chopped parsley and some stock. Take the meat out of the oven and let it rest 10 minutes before salting and cutting.
9. Add parmesan to the mix and stir until melted.
10. Cut the meat into thin slices, serve, garnish with fresh parsley.

Lessons learned:

1. Dont use too strong a red wine (or dilute it).  Syrah Pinotage is too strong, if the risotto is to accompany more delicate flavours.
2. Dont use too strong a parmesan. Dont get me wrong: the taste can be heavenly but too pungent for milder flavours, so it entirely depends on how you serve this dish. With green peas and some celery this would make a lovely "light" meal on its own.

Enjoy!