[Music]
Creamy saffron risotto without cheese
and without butter?
Hi, I am chef Nico and you are on
Italia Plant Based. Today we're making
two traditional dishes from the Milan area in Italy.
We start with a yummy saffron risotto
then with the leftover
we make an even tastier dish:
riso al salto or in English
Italian fried rice pancake.
Let's start with the saffron risotto.
To make a good risotto we start with a
simple homemade vegetable broth.
In a pot we add
water, celery, carrot,
onion, bay leaves, and
half a tbsp of coarse sea salt.
We bring to a boil and let simmer
on low heat for the whole time of this recipe.
While the broth simmers,
we prepare the saffron.
We prefer saffron threads instead of powder,
they taste better. 1 tsp is enough for
a portion of 4 people.
We put it in a small pot with some water,
then we warm it up on low heat
for 3 minutes, stirring, and making sure
the water doesn't boil,
then we set it aside.
Now we start with the rice.
Carnaroli, arborio, vialone nano,
are the best to make a great risotto.
We toast it for 2 minutes on a
pan without oil and on medium heat,
while stirring.
Dry toasting gives the rice a better texture and
flavour compared to frying the rice in oil.
When the rice is hot and toasted,
we can set it aside in a bowl.
Then in the same pan, we add the
finely chopped onion with a ladle of vegetable
broth. Here as well we avoid oil. There is
absolutely no need.
Cook the onion for 3 minutes, then
when the onion is soft and shiny
we add the rice, stirring it around the pan fast.
Here we toast it a second time with the onion.
When the pan is dry, we deglaze the rice
with some white wine, to add
acidity, and therefore flavour,
to this dish.
Stir well, then when the smell of the
alcohol has evaporated we
add 2 ladles of vegetable broth
and keep stirring.
We repeat this, adding two
ladles of vegetable broth at a time
as soon as the rice gets dry on the pan.
We should stir almost for the whole time.
Then half way through the cooking
at about 7 minutes in
we add the yellow water with the saffron in it.
Add the threads too, and you'll see
how the rice will change colour immediately.
It's so beautiful!
We keep stirring and adding broth
two ladles at the time
then when the rice is al dente (with a bite)
we take it off the heat and let it rest for 30 seconds.
Then we can start with the final step: mantecare.
At this stage, if you followed all the steps,
you should already have a very creamy risotto.
However this is no always the case.
Sometimes the rice just doesn't get creamy enough.
Most chefs around the world add butter and cheese
to make the rice creamy.
But we prefer this simple vegan trick.
Try to add a tsp or 2 of cornstarch,
a minute before taking the rice off the heat.
Afterall, creaminess is given by
the starch in the rice grains,
so by adding some extra starch, we
help the rice get super
creamy, without needing to add
oil or butter. So as a final step,
we do what in Italian is called MANTECARE.
We add some good quality extra virgin
olive oil, and 1.5 tbsps of
nutritional yeast.
We stir well, off the heat, till everything
is well combined together.
And now we are ready to serve the risotto.
Risotto should be served wavey (all'ONDA)
We put it on a plate with the ladle,
without pushing it down. You can tap the
bottom of the plate, but you should not touch the
top of the rice.
Look how beautiful it is.
A bright yellow colour, and it's so
creamy that you'll want to eat it all
in one go, and lick the plate clean.
But now I am going to show you an even
yummier recipe, made with the leftovers
of saffron risotto. It's called
Riso al Salto in Italian. Riso al salto
is basically a fried rice pancake cooked on
a pan for 10 minutes per side in plenty of
butter, so that the outside of the rice
caramelises and you get a crispy crust that is
full of aroma and flavour.
But let's see how to veganize this!
We'll need leftover saffron risotto.
It needs to be quite dry.
Then we warm up 2 tbsp of olive oil on a pan,
and add about 3 tbsp of saffron
risotto and we
flatten it with a spatula,
until we get a flat rice pancakes
that looks like a frittata.
Ok, now we need to let it cook
slowly and on low heat for 10 minutes,
without turning it. Try not to
make it stick to the pan.
If it sticks at the beginning that's not a problem.
Try moving it around gently, adding some oil
if necessary. If it breaks then put it
back together with the spatula.
But then at around the
7 minute mark, the rice should not stick
to the pan anymore.
Move it around on the pan,
to make sure it doesn't stick.
After 10 minutes of slow cooking
you can turn it around like a
frittata. But pay attention to the
hot oil. It might drip down your arm.
My advice is to drain
the hot oil on a plate first, before
you turn the rice completely.
Now put it back onto the pan
with 2 more tbsps of olive oil
for another 8 to 10 minutes.
Or until you get a dark yellow, brownish, crust.
Move the pan often to make sure the
rice doesn't stick.
Then when you see that the edges of the
pancake get a light brown colour
we can turn it around on a plate, and serve it!
This riso al salto
is packed with aroma and flavour
and it's super easy to make.
Everyone will love it!
You can serve it in slices as
a starter, but in Milan there are
people that it it all in one go,
so it's up to you :-)
If you liked our video
click the LIKE button or leave us a comment
below. And as usual, we'd be happy if you sub to our
channel or if you come and visit us on
tiktok and instagram.
So long, buon appetito and see you next time.
[Music]