Born in the northern Italian province of Reggio Emilia, which is often considered the gastronomical epicentre of Italian cuisine (owing to its Apennine bounties and farm-focused palates), chef Valter Belli has mastered the traditional Italian fare over the course of the last 30 years. We caught up with the chef while he was in town, curating the Italian Food Festival at JW Marriott last month, and asked him about how to make an authentic plate of Italian risotto.
Originally known as a Northern Italian staple, the risotto is a creamy and wholesome rice dish which is often cooked with broth until it reaches a thick and even consistency. It is usually presented as a pre-entree dish, and risotto is one of the most common ways of preparing rice in Italy. “The perfect risotto takes 80 minutes to cook! And you must use Arborio rice, which is Italian short-grain rice, and no other kind of rice and you also must keep the risotto stirring and you can’t just let it sit and boil,” the chef reveals.
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup cream
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped (1 cup)
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 cup beetroot puree
1 cup pesto sauce ( made with basil, garlic, peanut, parmesan cheese)
1 cup uncooked Arborio rice
Broccoli, carrots, cauliflower cut to size
1/4 cup blue cheese
1/4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 cup white wine
Heat butter and oil over medium-high heat. As the butter melts, add chopped onion and garlic
Put in the arborio rice in the oil and after a couple of minutes add white wine. Then add the other vegetables
Add the vegetable broth and keep cooking for 8-10 minutes. Keep stirring it the whole time and do not let it sit
Add in the beetroot puree
Melt cream and Gorgonzola (a kind of blue cheese) together in a separate bowl
Add in the cream cheese and the pesto to the risotto