Gordon Ramsays quick method of preparing risotto

Gordon Ramsays quick method of preparing risotto.

This is the quick method that he used to prepare risotto for the F Word TV restaurant on his TV series, according to a British website. It’s probably also used on the Hell’s Kitchen series.

Risotto

400g (about 1 lb - 2 cups) risotto rice (such as arborio or carnaroli)
1 litre (about 4 cups) brown chicken (or vegetable) stock
150g (about 1-1/4 cups) shelled broad (fava) beans
150g (about 1-1/4 cups) peas (or petits pois), thawed if frozen
50g (about 1/2 cup) freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra shavings to serve
25g (about 1-1/2 Tbs) butter, cut into cubes
handful fresh chives(optional), chopped
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To make the risotto, wash the rice in cold water and strain off. Put into a pan with 500ml (about 2 cups) of chicken stock, 500ml (about 2 cups) water and a generous pinch of salt. Bring the liquid to a simmer and blanch the rice for 7 minutes. Drain well and spread out on a lightly oiled tray to cool down. Store, covered, in fridge for up to 24-hours.

To finish the risotto, place the blanched rice in a shallow pan and pour in just enough chicken stock to cover. Bring to the boil quickly and cook, stirring frequently, until nearly all of the stock has evaporated. Taste the risotto to see if is al dente, adding a little more stock if it needs a bit more cooking. Add the broad beans, peas, Parmesan and a few knobs of butter. Cook for a further few minutes until the beans are tender. Season to taste. Finally add the fresh chives if desired.

The second half of this recipe takes about 10 minutes.

How many will the above recipe serve?

How important is it to cool the rice prior to combining in the 2nd part of the recipe? Can it be combined right away?

This uses 2 cups of rice so it should make 4 main dish servings or 6 side dish servings.

The basic point of this recipe is to do most of the work making risotto ahead of time. This technique is mainly used in restaurants. The rice is cooked partially, refrigerated and then finished, quickly when the dish is ordered. That’s why it is refrigerated. Just for storage. Using this method gets the risotto to the customer quickly, they don’t have to wait 20 or 30 minutes for fresh risotto to be made.

If you are cooking the risotto from beginning to end at home, I would just use a regular risotto recipe. You could use the recipe above and just cook it until it’s done without the refrigeration part.

This recipe comes from the British TV website that produces Gordon Ramsay’s programs.

Wow! Over 36,500 views since I posted this recipe in 2009.