How to make an authentic Italian risotto with these surprising star ingredients.
When you think of cooking a creamy delicious risotto, the standard ingredients such as butter, Italian hard cheese and olive oil are usually the go to essential items to form your base. However, according to Italian professionals it turns out we have been doing it all wrong! By not choosing a premium hard cheese such as Grana Padano PDO, and leaving out one key ingredient that is guaranteed to make your risotto pop with flavour, and that is none other than our beloved sparkling bottle of pop, Prosecco DOC.
Italian professionals, recommend adding a glass of Brit’s popular fizz, before ladeling the stock to the onions and rice in the traditional slow method of preparing a risotto. The unique nutty and creamy taste from Grana Padano PDO pairs perfectly with the fruity and fresh notes from Prosecco DOC, that elevates a risotto to the next level.
In the risotto, Grana Padano PDO melts beautifully to create a delicious, creamy choux. Experts recommend any age of Grana Padano would work perfectly in a risotto, but for a richer and stronger taste, particularly when paired with the prosecco, a Grana Padano PDO Riserva aged over 20 months is encouraged to create a perfectly balanced flavour.
A spokesperson from Consorzio Tutela Prosecco DOC said, “It’s very common in cuisine to add wine to food while cooking, like adding red wine to red meat dishes, but in Italy, we also like to utilise our beloved sparkling wine. A lot of care is put into producing Prosecco DOC, and that high level of attention to detail can be tasted from both a glass and a plate.”
So, if you are wondering how to make the most out of your bottles of fizz, ponder no more as with this genius solution, you can enjoy a Prosecco DOC aperitivo whilst utilising it in your cooking at the same time. Create the perfect mid-week dinner by adding it to your risotto, enhancing the flavour by miles, allowing you, and your loved ones to dine like the culinary pro’s in Italy.
To honour and celebrate the perfect pairing of the two Italian hero’s in this dish and following their recent launch of education project, Cheers and Cheese to EU: Grana Padano PDO and Prosecco DOC, have joined forces to provide us with the recipe for the perfect fizzy fuelled risotto. Guaranteed to shake up your taste buds. And if you are one of the millions of brits, who put the UK in the Number 1 purchasing spot of Prosecco globally in 2021 (a staggering 122M bottles of Prosecco DOC was imported into the UK alone), this star dish will leave you wondering what other dishes you can add your favourite bottle of fizz to!
Risotto with Prosecco DOC Grana Padano PDO and lemon
Serves 4 people
Ingredients
- 320g of rice
- 1 bottle of Prosecco DOC
- 1 litre of vegetable stock
- 1 onion
- 2 lemons
- 50g of butter
- 50g of Grana Padano PDO
- Olive oil
- Salt & Pepper
Method:
- Squeeze the two lemons and set aside the juice. Next, grate the rind of the lemons, taking care not to reach the pulp.
- Chop the onion very finely and place it in a large saucepan and then add a drizzle of olive oil. Turn the heat on a low flame and fry the onion. Once browned, add the rice and toast for a couple of minutes, mixing with the oil and onion.
- Pour a glass of Prosecco DOC into the pan and simmer until it has evaporated. Now start adding the vegetable stock (pre-mixed with warm water). The liquid stock should be added one ladle at
a time. Once the rice has absorbed all the liquid, you can add the second ladle and so on until the rice is cooked. Don’t forget to keep stirring.
- Halfway through cooking the rice, add the lemon juice and another glass of Prosecco D.O.C. and continue to mix.
- Once the rice is cooked, add the butter and Grana Padano PDO, adjust with pepper and salt according to your taste and keep mixing for a creamy consistency.
- Your risotto is ready to plate and serve.
Background information: Both produced in Italy, Prosecco and Grana Padano have PDO status (protected designation of origin), which means they are certified quality products traditionally produced following centuries-old recipes and tied to the territory and the people of their production area. Grana Padano PDO, a hard cheese made from cows’ milk, was first created by Cistercian monks in Chiaravalle Abbey in Milan, in the 12th century, as a way to preserve surplus milk. It is still produced every day in 5 regions in the north of Italy from 128 producers with passion. Its rich, nutty flavour which evolves during its ageing process, which can last from a minimum of 9 to over 24 months, makes it a versatile ingredient for a variety of dishes or simply eaten on its own. Grana Padano possesses unique nutritional features such as quality proteins, vitamins and mineral salts, especially calcium. It is naturally lactose free due to the characteristics of its production and long ageing process. Due to Grana Padano cheese’s popularity, it is the most consumed PDO cheese in the world.
Prosecco PDO, produced in the regions Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia, is named after the village of Prosecco, which is located in the province of Trieste. It’s primarily made from the Glera grape, the autochthonous variety of the region, and in the broader designation area, there are more than 350 Prosecco producers. All working hard, to keep our beloved bubbly true to its roots and enjoyed by all, globally. Prosecco PDO, which is light and refreshing in taste, and extremely versatile, is exported to more than 160 countries in the world.
About Cheers & Cheese:
Cheers & Cheese to EU is a three-year (March 2024 – February 2027) information and promotional project co-funded by the European Union in the frame of Reg. (EU) 1144/2014 and jointly promoted by Consorzio Tutela Grana Padano PDO and Next Generation Pro, an Association which reunites Prosecco PDO producers.
The aim of this project is to raise awareness on the PDO logo among European consumers and professionals, especially in the UK and Switzerland, as well as to improve the knowledge about Grana Padano PDO and Prosecco PDO in the two markets. These products are indeed quality certified products, authentic and maximum expression of their land of origin. In addition, both Grana Padano PDO and Prosecco PDO producers are actively involved in the global effort to make agri-food products more sustainable and environmentally friendly.
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