Two Ways with Risotto

Risotto is a simple, versatile and comforting food. You can serve it simply, a la Milanese, or you can primp it up with all manner of sauteed vegetables, dot it flashes of shredded of meat or fish or even serve it sweet.
Even better, you can use leftover Risotto to make Arancini (deep fried risotto balls) or fry up the cold, almost coaguluated rice in butter to serve as delicious, flavourful rice cakes.
Risotto is never as difficult as you might think. It does require a level of patience but we're talking no more than 30 minutes of ladleing stock into the rice and some gently stirring. In fact, it's a bit of a no-brainer to prepare but the final result is truly sublime.
My favourite way of serving risotto is with baby broad beans and peas (frozen of course!) stirred through it at the last minute. The bite of the tiny beans is wonderful and sweetness of the peas adds a certain something to the salty parmesan.
I have meddled with the basic Risotto recipe on one occasion only, when I made a beetroot risotto. The rice was stained a pale plum colour and it looked stunning, however the flavour seemed somehow wrong, as if the beetroot had in some way tarnished the purity of the rice. My only experimentations with risotto nowadays would be using the cooking juices from a roast chicken (which works so well, especially if you've made a lemon or galic roast chicken) or adding some chargrilled peppers or sauteed mushrooms or courgettes to the final dish. Oh, and I did make this particular risotto really luxurious by stirring through the leftover clotted cream from the cream tea at the weekend (and for the benefit of Quellia and those who are not familiar with Clotted Cream, it is just unpasturised milk that has been heated up and then left to cool for several hours. The cream content 'clots' (I know, it sounds unattractive), and rises to the surface.). This is a completely unnecessary step and was really an exercise in "using up stuff in the fridge that's gone/going bad", although a whorl of any cream/creme fraiche/sour cream will make an risotto extra decadent.
And just when you thought that risotto couldn't taste any better, just try it the next day. Shaped into patties and fried or rolled in breadcrumbs and deep fried, the flavour is somehow more mellow, as if the risotto has matured overnight. And before you get squiffy about deepfrying, these Arancini (from the Italian for "Little Oranges" - they are so named because of the colour they turn when deep fried) are so simply to make that you'll always make extra risotto just so you can treat yourself the next day.
Some Arancini are just the rice, bound with a little egg, formed into balls and rolled in breadcrumbs before frying, but I put a little filling of some finely chopped Mozzarella inside mine and rolled them in another traditional Italian ingredient, Polenta, for a delicious crunch. The more adept you become at rolling the balls (floured hands help immensely), the more extragevant you can become with your fillings: chopped ham, chicken, cold, thick pizza sauce. You can make them as bite-sized as you want or form them into balls that need knives and forks to tackle them with. I served mine with a tomato sauce and some linguini - a vegetarian variation of Spaghetti and Meatballs!
But, back to the original risotto recipe:
RISOTTO - serves 2 generously with enough to make Arancini the next day
Ingredients:
300g Arborio Rice(or your favourite risotto rice)
1 White Onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 Cloves Garlic, peeled and finely chopped
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
50g Butter
Handful Frozen Peas (optional)
50g Parmesan
1.5 Pints Chicken Stock (I used a stock cube), at boiling temperature
50ml Dash of white wine (optional)
METHOD:
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan or saute pan and gently saute the onions and garlic until softened but not browned.
Pour in the rice and stir well until it is coated in the oily onion mixture and is starting to squeak a little. This means it wants more liquid! Keep the heat quite high.
Pour over the wine, if using, and stir gently until absorbed.
Then keep ladling in the hot stock, a ladleful at a time until the rice is tender to the bite but not mushy. This can take anywhere between 20 minutes to half an hour.
Season well with salt and pepper and beat in the butter.
Remove from the heat and throw in the frozen peas and parmesan. The heat from the risotto will cook the peas and melt the cheese luxuriously. Serve immediately in deep bowls with more parmesan for grating. I served mine with some pan fried Salmon that I had doused with Cajun Spice Mix.
Place the reserved risotto into a dish and cover well. Leave to cool, then refrigerate.

To make the Arancini:
ARANCINI
Ingredients:
Leftover Risotto
100g Coarse Polenta (cornmeal) (n.b. you can use dried breadcrumbs or panko instead if you prefer)
Chopped Mozzarella (optional)
Vegetable Oil for Deep Frying
METHOD:
Pour the cornmeal onto a plate so that your arancini can be transferred immediately to the plate once rolled. They are very sticky and need to be de-stickified as soon as possible.
Heat the oil up to the point where a cube of bread turns golden and crisp in about a minute. If the oil is too hot, the cornmeal will just burn, too cool and the filling will ooze everywhere and absorb all the oil. Not nice.
Lightly flouring your hands, scoop out little dollops of the rice, placing into the palm of one hand and flatten slightly. Place a couple of cubes of the Mozzarella into the centre of your risotto patty, then close the rice up around the cheese, ensuring it is completely enclosed. Form a rough ball shape, then place onto your plate of cornmeal. Continue this until all the rice is used up. You should get around 8 large Arancini.
Wash your hands.
Now you can roll the balls in the cornmeal. Once coated you can carefully form them into a slightly more uniform shape.
Using a metal slotted spoon, drop two or three of the coated balls into the hot oil and cook for about 2 minutes. They will be a rich, golden colour and the cornmeal will have made a delicious, crisp shell around the meltingly hot rice.
Leave to drain on kitchen paper whilst you cook the others.
Serve with a tomato sauce or dip of your choice.
Enjoy!