Turkey risotto | Turkey recipes | Jamie Oliver recipes (2024)

FAQs

What makes the best risotto? ›

Preheat your oven to full whack, get the turkey in the roasting tray and cover with foil. As soon as it goes in the oven, immediately turn the heat down to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4. As a rough guide, you want to cook the turkey for about 35 to 40 minutes per kilogram, so a 7kg turkey will want about 4 to 4½ hours in the oven.

As a general rule, 60g per person is perfect for a starter, light meal, or if you've bulked out the dish with other ingredients. For more generous portions, go with 75g each. Whatever type of risotto you're making, use piping hot stock – it means the grains will start to soften and cook straight away.

Yes, the foundational creaminess of well-made risotto should come from the starches that the grains release slowly over the cooking process—but a bit of actual cream doesn't hurt, either. Make sure to season the risotto with salt after you've added the whipped cream.

The most important thing when preparing risotto is choosing the right rice, since long or sushi grains won't work. One chef favorite: carnaroli rice. Many recipes call for arborio, but longer-grained carnaroli is key to that sought-after creaminess (plus it's harder to overcook).

Risotto technique: cook a starchy ingredient slowly, adding liquid bit by bit and stirring. Aim: pull starch out for creaminess. What is the secret to best risotto?

The key, instead, is to undercook the risotto and cool it rapidly to prevent that rice from overcooking, so you can easily finish cooking it later.

Butter is fat. It adds richness and moisture to risotto, as well as mouth feel. Fats carry flavor, and coat the inside of your mouth, allowing the flavor nuances of the dish to persist and be enjoyed for longer. It also helps to keep the grains of rice separate.

Do you put butter in risotto? ›

There are two phases in risotto-preparation that require fat: start and finish. Right at the start you will need it to fry your onion and toast your rice. Instead of butter you may use olive oil. And you will end, heat turned off, by adding butter and cheese.

Because risotto is cooked uncovered on the stovetop, a lot of liquid evaporates. Plan on about three times as much liquid as rice. And that liquid should be stock of some sort. Chicken stock is the staple, but use whatever stock you prefer — beef, vegetable, seafood.

If you are able to get white wine vinegar then you can add a tablespoon of this to the rice and let it boil away before adding any stock and this will often give some of the flavour of wine, whilst reducing the alcohol content.

Arborio is the most popular short-grain rice for making risotto. It is capable of absorbing large amounts of liquid and produces a relatively creamy risotto with a hearty texture.