Red Onion and Rosemary Risotto for an Easy, Elegant Weeknight Dinner
The best meals come together with simple ingredients, in little time, and return fabulous results. Risotto is one of those dishes which takes less than half an hour to make and sounds as elegant as it tastes. No one will ever know how easy it was!
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What is Risotto?
Risotto is a rice dish of Italian origin that uses hot broth to slowly hydrate the rice until it’s almost porridge-like in consistency, and then butter or cheese at the end to achieve a creamier texture.
I have never added butter to mine, but plenty of chefs swear that adding cubes of cold butter at the end emulsifies your sauce for the utmost luxury. For me, I’ve never thought that it needed butter to feel creamier.
My risotto finishes with grated parmesan to drive home the salty, tangy, funky flavors already present from the white wine and red onion. For an herbal kick of green, I add in a bit of fresh rosemary, too.
Choosing the Right Wine
I’ve heard it both ways. Either you should only cook with wine you would drink, or you should cook with wine you don’t want to drink. To me, that means pretty much anything goes.
Now, I have not yet made a risotto with red wine, but feel free to go nuts. It’ll be pink. And now that I say that, I want to do a whole post about pink risotto. I’ll call it Rosétto.
ANYWAYS, when you’re picking your wine, I prefer to go with a dry white. Chardonnay is inherently buttery and potentially oaky. Pinot Grigio is a little brighter with kind of sour flavors. Sauvignon Blanc is still sharp and citrusy, but also a little floral.
Depending on what you’re aiming for or what you have on hand, these are my top three choices. Funny enough, these are the three types of white wine you can get at Aldi for $3. So, it’s not like I’m breaking the bank to make risotto.
Stock vs. Broth
The next next question is whether you should use stock or broth as the main liquid in your risotto.
In case you aren’t sure of the difference, stock is generally made with the bones and remnants of things, where broth is made with meat and whole produce. Broth can stand alone, but stock is usually meant as a building block for a dish.
For risotto, you can use whichever you have on hand and return good results. I’ve made really good risotto using bone broth (which is stock that’s been seasoned to be sippable by itself), stock, and broth.
The key is to season accordingly. When you use stock, you’re going to require more salt and seasoning to boost your flavors. With broths, there is already a considerable amount of seasoning in the liquid.
Finally, whether you choose vegetable, chicken, or beef is up to you and what’s available. My recipe says chicken, but please know that it’s going to turn out delicious with veggie or beef, too. Some purists will even say beef is the only way to make risotto.
The Right Rice for Risotto
While the wine and broth/stock you choose is a little bit subjective, the rice is more important. You’ll want to pick up a bag of arborio rice for this dish. It’s pretty inexpensive, and Kroger has a store brand version that I rely on. You don’t have to get anything too fancy.
Truth be told, yes, I have made this with medium grain rice, and it turned out fine. And if you’re just like, “I want risotto for dinner but I have to use what we have at home,” girl, go ahead and use what you have.
All I have to say is DO NOT USE MINUTE RICE FOR RISOTTO. Minute rice has been previously cooked and dehydrated so it’ll cook up more quickly. It will go mushy and soupy instead of turning creamy and toothsome like a good risotto.
Don’t Get Cheap Cheese
The last note I have on this is please don’t use the powdered parmesan that comes in a shaker. Go at least one step up and get real parmesan from the refrigerated section.
Sometimes, the cheese section at the grocery store will have a little remnants basket where they have just the right amount of parmesan for less than a dollar. If you’re tight on the budget, grab one of those, and enjoy the little “splurge” without having to empty your wallet.
Comment below if you have notes on risotto, whether you disagree with my technique (which is not how they made it on season 2 of Britain’s Best Home Cook), or if you love it. Let me know what you think! And don’t forget to subscribe for awesome freebies and weekly blog posts sent right to your inbox!
Red Onion and Rosemary Risotto
Equipment
- Small sauce pan
- High walled sauté pan
- Ladle
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- ½ cup red onion diced
- 1 cup arborio rice
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup dry white wine
- ¼ cup grated parmesan
- 2 Tbsp fresh rosemary chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In the small saucepan, bring your broth to a simmer. Then, reduce the heat to keep it warm while you work.
- In the large sauté pan, add the oil and onions. Cook until the onions develop a little bit of browning, but not so far that they caramelize.
- Add in the rice and stir to absorb some of the oil and onion flavor. Deglaze the pan with the wine, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen up the fond.
- Ladle in the about 1/2 cup of the warm broth, and stir until the rice absorbs the liquid. Repeat until all the broth is absorbed and the rice is cooked. This may take between 2 and 3 cups of broth depending on the heat and how liquid you want your risotto.
- Once the rice is cooked, stir in the fresh, chopped rosemary and the parmesan. Allow it to cook gently for 5 minutes.
- To serve, spoon the risotto onto a plate with your choice of protein (optional) and top with more fresh, chopped rosemary and parmesan.
