Jamie's easy risotto recipe being served out of a pot into a bowl with rocket and olive oil.

A basic risotto recipe

Name: A basic risotto recipe
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 1.1 litres organic stock, such as chicken, fish, vegetable; 1 large onion; 2 cloves of garlic; ½ a head of celery; 90g Parmesan cheese; 2 tablespoons olive oil; unsalted butter; 400g risotto rice; 2 wine glasses of dry white vermouth (dry Martini or Noilly Prat) or dry white wine

Smooth, creamy & oozy

Gluten-free Vegetarian

45 mins

Super easy

serves 6

About the recipe

Making a beautiful risotto is so easy! All it takes is a little love and care and this base recipe.

To turn this risotto base into Ginny's pesto & mozzarella arancini, check out the tip below the method!

nutrition per serving

Calories

22%

Fat

20%

Saturates

32%

Sugars

Salt

17%

Protein

30%

Carbs

22%

Fibre

of an adult’s reference intake

Recipe From

Jamie's Kitchen

By Jamie Oliver

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Ingredients

1.1 litres organic stock, such as chicken, fish, vegetable

1 large onion

2 cloves of garlic

½ a head of celery

90g Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons olive oil

unsalted butter

400g risotto rice

2 wine glasses of dry white vermouth (dry Martini or Noilly Prat) or dry white wine

Top Tip

This is a great base recipe for making risotto. You want it to be smooth, creamy and oozy, not thick and stodgy.

Method

Heat the stock. Peel and finely chop the onion and garlic, trim and finely chop the celery. Finely grate the Parmesan.
In a separate pan, heat the oil and 1 small knob of butter over a low heat, add the onions, garlic and celery, and fry gently for about 15 minutes, or until softened but not coloured.
Add the rice and turn up the heat – the rice will now begin to lightly fry, so keep stirring it. After 1 minute it will look slightly translucent. Add the vermouth or wine and keep stirring — it will smell fantastic. Any harsh alcohol flavours will evaporate and leave the rice with a tasty essence.
Once the vermouth or wine has cooked into the rice, add your first ladle of hot stock and a good pinch of sea salt. Turn the heat down to a simmer so the rice doesn’t cook too quickly on the outside.
Keep adding ladlefuls of stock, stirring and almost massaging the creamy starch out of the rice, allowing each ladleful to be absorbed before adding the next. This will take around 15 minutes. Taste the rice — is it cooked? Carry on adding stock until the rice is soft but with a slight bite. Don’t forget to check the seasoning carefully. If you run out of stock before the rice is cooked, add some boiling water.
Remove the pan from the heat, add 1 knob of butter and the Parmesan, then stir well.
Place a lid on the pan and allow to sit for 2 minutes – this is the most important part of making the perfect risotto, as this is when it becomes outrageously creamy and oozy like it should be. Eat it as soon as possible, while the risotto retains its beautiful texture.

To turn this base risotto into pesto & mozzarella arancini balls...

Allow the risotto to cool down
Once cool, scoop a portion into your hands to make flat rounds
Poke a small square of mozzarella into the middle and top with a little bit of pesto, then wrap the risotto around it to completely seal the flavours inside
Put plain flour, beaten eggs and breadcrumbs into 3 separate shallow bowls.
Carefully toss each arancini ball into the flour, then the egg, and finally the breadcrumbs, ensuring the ball is completely coated.
Fry each ball in hot oil for around 8 minutes or until golden and beautifully crisp, and tuck in!