Something like “Riso al salto” but oven grilled :)

Nov 30

A popular recipe in many Milanese trattorias and not only … I’ve noticed it on an Italian food blog, you can read the original recipe here ( https://www.lacucinaitaliana.com/italian-food/how-to-cook/risotto-al-salto-crispy-rice-with-fonduta ) and I was thinking to try something similar because I liked the idea and the presentation :) …

Again risotto …

Yes :) this recipe starts with a risotto again … As the liquid for the risotto I used a vegetable soup - In a pot I put carrots, onions, celery and parsley… peeled and cut in medium dice pieces. I covered the vegetables with water, and let them simmer for about 30 - 35 minutes… ( Feel free to use any liquid you prefer - a soup or a broth it is up to you). For 100 grams of arborio rice I used about 400 - 450 ml of liquid. (But If you don’t have this quantity you can complete with hot water…)

I used arborio rice but you can use any risotto rice with high starch content (you need a creamy - sticky texture)… I started with 100 ml of liquid and all the rice quantity and I started cooking it at low heat stirring from time to time. As the liquid was incorporated I added more with a ladle (I added the liquid hot and in small portions) and continued mixing until the it was absorbed. I kept adding small quantities of hot liquid and stirring until the risotto incorporated it and became soft and creamy. I prepared the risotto in about 30-35 minutes. In the last 5 minutes of cooking I added some mashed carrots and celery from the soup I used as risotto liquid … (I made this this recipe vegan but you can add an egg yolk and a spoon of grated parmesan cheese in the last 5 minutes of cooking - this will make the risotto more sticky and yes you will have an extra layer of flavour ). After I finished the risotto, I let it cool about an hour, then transferred it in two small trays on baking paper and put it in the freezer overnight. If you don’t have such small trays you can put the risotto in a larger tray and cut it in rectangle shape portions before freeze it … The risotto layer thickness in the plates was about 2.5 centimeters. I wanted to obtain two firm rectangular “risotto bars” …

Baking the risotto

First I preheated the oven to 180 C. I took the “risotto bars” out of the freezer with about half an hour before baking them. I greased slightly the risotto bars with a few drops of olive oil just before I put them in the oven. I let them in the oven at 180 C with ventilation, then another 6-7 minutes with the oven grill set on 3. You can grill them in the oven until you like the crust :). Before you grill them you can sprinkle over some fresh grated parmesan if you consider :). Enjoy !

Conclusions

Without egg yolk and cheese be careful with the shape it is easy to mess it up
The taste is excellent even the pictures are not the best :))
You can pan fry the risotto bars (like the original recipe) if you like but I wanted a lighter version here
It tasted slightly different than classic risotto and is delicious so the extra work pays off :))

INGREDIENTS - for about 2 persons