Risotto

Edited 26/5/25

 

Risotto is something that I’ve come to since living on my own, because it isn’t the sort of rib-sticking tack that my skippers would have liked. I adore it. 

For a long time I couldn’t get it just right. I kept reading all different recipes; I carefully kept my stock hot and ladled it assiduously into the pan, just like the maestros told me to, but the rice never seemed really to cook through and I never got the creamy consistency that the cookery books raved about: I think all the variables of heat, pan size and quantity are very important and unless you cook the same amount in the same pan each time, there's a lot of trial and error.  Keeping the water/stock hot is a further complication.  Moreover, some recipes imply that you heat up more water/stock than might be called for, and pouring water away on a boat, is a capital crime!  Finally, however, I came across a complete iconoclast who cooked her risotto in the pressure cooker and, moreover, she assured me that so do lots of Italian cooks, who, I assume prefer to sit down with the rest of the white wine, rather than standing over the risotto pot, ladling and stirring for three-quarters of an hour. So I tried it, and since then I have produced what I consider to be perfect risotto (although I have to admit that the one in the photo is a bit dry)!  You will have to experiment a bit to get the timing just right: the usual caveat about how long it takes your PC to get up to pressure and at what pressure it cooks applies as usual.

 

I have tried it with short-grain brown rice, rather than arborio, but the result has been disappointing.  From what I have read, risotto is meant to be of a creamy consistency, so it shouldn't stand up on its own, moulded on the plate.  Nor should it have any cream in it - the creaminess comes from the starch in the rice - and really, not even that much cheese.  The Italians are firm believers in Less is More.

 

Jamie Oliver adds lots of celery to his risotto and very good it is too. However, celery is not the sort of thing that most voyagers carry, because it comes in large quantities and doesn’t keep that well. Instead I have gone for a unique Annie touch (or so I would like to think) and use fennel seeds. Very Italian and very voyager friendly.  I also occasionally add celery seeds, too, in a nod to Mr Oliver.  Classic risotto recipes use neither, however, so feel free to leave them out if you prefer.

 

What follows is the basic recipe with the usual variations at the end.   Although I see a lot of recipes include vegetables early in the cooking process, traditionally most appear to be added at the end.  I dare say that's because after all the stirring, etc, the veg would be mashed.  However, with those that will re-heat quickly like mushrooms, it's better to pre-fry them with the onion and garlic and then set aside.  I usually sprinkle in some of my mushroom stock powder, just before adding the water and recommend it, but if you only have commercial stock you can use that, in which case go carefully with your salt.  If you don't particularly want to fry your vegetable of choice, for example if you're making, for example green bean risotto, partially cook the beans first and use the cooking water for stock.  But in reality – just go for it!

 

Please check the Notes before cooking :-) 

Basic Risotto

 

Serves 2

 

Ingredients

 

A knob of butter and/or olive oil

1 onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic crushed and diced

1/2 tsp fennel seeds

1/2 tsp celery seed

2/3 cup short grain (ideally Carnaroli or Arborio) rice

1/2 cup white wine (or, in desperate circumstances, water)

1 1/3 cups stock/cooking water/water

salt and pepper

extra hot water/stock

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese or 'Parmegan' 

 

Method:

• Heat the oil and/or butter in the pressure cooker and then add the onion and garlic. Cook gently until softened, but don’t let them brown.
• Add the fennel seeds and/or celery, if you're using them and quickly mix them in.
• Add the rice and stir it around for a few minutes until it’s thoroughly heated and covered in the oil and onion mixture.  It should be starting to turn translucent and to crackle slightly.
• Pour in the wine and continue stirring until it has evaporated.
• Now add the water/stock/cooking water from your vegetable of choice, or water and stock powder; stir to ensure that everything is covered in liquid and well mixed.  
• Put on the lid and bring up to pressure.
• Cook for 5-7 minutes and allow the pressure to reduce naturally.
• Meanwhile, grate the cheese and heat up about a cup of water.
• Remove the lid and gently stir the risotto. Add salt and pepper and taste it. The risotto should be of a creamy consistency that flows rather than stands on its own. If it looks a bit dry, add some of your hot water and mix carefully.
• Add the Parmesan/Parmegan and gently mix it in.  Taste to see if you've added sufficient.
• *  At this stage, add your partially-cooked vegetables and mix carefully again.
  Put the lid back on and either let the vegetables reheat in the hot risotto for a few minutes, or put the pan back over a very low heat, if you are worried the risotto might cool down too much.  Give the consistency one final check adding more hot water/stock if necessary and serve straight away, with more cheese, if you wish.

A green vegetable or side salad go well with any risotto, but especially with the basic one above.

 

Notes:

• If you don't have or use butter, add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil; otherwise just use one tbsp plus the butter.
• Substitute vegan ghee for butter.
• Try to avoid using red onions - they will colour the risotto.
• You can heat your extra hot water/stock while the pressure is coming off. 

Variations:

 

Please read through these little recipes carefully before starting cooking.

• Broad bean risotto: Shell the beans to make up about a cup full.  Following the basic risotto recipe above, cook the beans in a small amount of water to which you have added 1/4 tsp dried mint, until they are just tender.  Scoop them out onto a plate with a slotted spoon. Make up the cooking liquid to 1 1/3 cups, with stock or water and coninue with the method above.  Add the cooked beans at * and complete the recipe.
• Broccoli risotto: Following the basic risotto recipe above, cut the broccoli into tiny heads, simmer them in a small amount of water until just cooked - they will cook a bit more while reheating - and then scoop them out onto a plate with a slotted spoon. Make up the cooking water to 1 1/3 cups, with stock or water.  If you want to use some of the stalk, chop it and cook with the onions and garlic.  Continue as above, add the cooked broccoli at *, and complete the recipe.  Sprinkle with chilli flakes.
• Cauliflower risotto: 
  
  Following the basic risotto recipe above, cut off the florets, to whatever size suits you, depending on what result you are aiming for. Lightly cook them, remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.  Make up the cooking water to 1 1/3 cups, with stock or water. Take the stalk and any trimmings, chop and cook with the onions and garlic and 1/4 tsp chilli flakes.  Add the water/stock and continue with the method above.  While the risotto is cooking, you can thinly slice the florets, if you wish.   Add the cauliflower at *, and complete the recipe.  A variation is to cook the cauliflower more thoroughly and to gently mash it into the cooked rice.
• Green bean risotto.  Following the recipe above, cook about a dozen beans, sliced into 30mm/1in pieces, in a small amount of water with 1/4 tsp dried oregano, until they are almost ready.  Scoop them out onto a plate with a slotted spoon. Make up the cooking water to 1 1/3 cups, with stock or water and carry on with the recipe.  Add the cooked beans at * and complete the recipe.
• Mushroom risotto:
  
  Read through the recipe above.  (If you have any, soak a few dried mushrooms in hot water for 30 minutes or so and use the water in the stock). Take half a dozen or so fresh mushrooms and fry them in the oil/butter with the onion and garlic, together with 1/4 tsp thyme and 1/2 tsp rosemary (1/4 tsp sage also goes well if you are using darker mushrooms).  When the onions are soft, set everything aside on a plate.  Now add some more oil to the pan.  Add the rice and cook for a minute or so until the grains start to turn translucent and crackle. Add the mushroom liquid to the water/stock to make 2 cups of liquid (you don't need wine with this risotto), then pour this over the rice.  Now add the drained mushrooms, put on the lid and bring up to pressure as per the recipe above.  Add the cooked mushrooms at * and complete the recipe.  If you are lucky enough to have some, drizzle some truffle oil over before serving.
• Pea risotto: Shell sufficient fresh peas to fill about half a cup. Bring a small amount of water to the boil, together with 1/4 tsp dried mint and a couple of the pods.  Add the peas and cook for one minute, then scoop them out onto a plate with a slotted spoon. Remove the pods. Make up the cooking water to 1 1/3 cups, with stock or water, and follow the basic risotto recipe.  Add the cooked peas at * and complete the recipe.  If you don't have fresh peas, you can use a similar amount of freeze-dried.  Cook them in the stock/water, together with the dried mint until they are nearly cooked.  Scoop them out with a slotted spoon and set aside.  Make up the liquid to 1 1/3 cups and follow the recipe.  Add the cooked peas at * and complete the recipe. 
• Pea and sun-dried tomato risotto: Follow the instructions for Pea Risotto, but add three or four sun-dried tomatoes, cut into strips, with the fennel seeds.
• Risotto Milanesa:  This is the classic Italian recipe and is very beautiful.  Saffron is horribly expensive, but its glorious colour and subtle fragrance make it worthwhile using on occasion.  Do not be tempted to substitute turmeric: it will overwhelm a dish like this which is so subtly flavoured.  For the same reason, leave out the fennel and celery seeds and make sure you use some decent-tasting white wine. Following the basic risotto recipe above, heat 1/4 cup of the water you intend to cook the rice in and add a good pinch of saffron strands (about 1/4 tsp).  Allow them to infuse for about 20 minute.  Cook the basic risotto as above, and add the saffron liquid to the water/stock to make up 1 1/3 cups.  Complete the recipe.

 

 

Broccoli sauce with walnuts and lemon

Blender alert (see Note)

This creamy broccoli sauce is perfect for pasta, and so easy to make. Whizzed together with walnuts and seasonings, it is both surprisingly satisfying and creamy. The first time I cooked it, my reaction was that it was hard to believe that it was dairy free.  Broccoli is by no means a voyaging vegetable, because it keeps so poorly, but it is readily available in many places. This recipe is a particularly good way of using up broccoli, when has started to turn yellow and it's great if you haven't been able to use up the stalk.

I like to serve it with spaghetti, but I think it would go well with most varieties of pasta.  Use a gluten free pasta, if you are avoiding gluten.

 

Serves 2 

 

Ingredients

 

1/2 broccoli

1/3 cup walnuts

1 clove garlic

1/2 tsp onion powder

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 tbsp nutritionalyeast

1/4 tsp chilli flakes

1 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper

 

Instructions:

• Add about half a cup of water to a saucepan and bring it to the boil.
• Cut the broccoli into florets, and cut off the woody end. Peel the thick skin from the stalk and slice the stalk. (You can use a peeler, if you wish, but I find that you can loosen the skin from the base of the stalk and simply tear it off with your knife blade.) Boil the broccoli and stalk for 4-5 minutes until just soft.
• Remove from the pan, reserving the cooking water, and tip it into a blender or food processor.
• Add the walnuts, garlic, onion powder, lemon and olive oil to the blender with the broccoli and whizz them together until they form a smooth paste.
• Season generously with salt and pepper, then add a little of the cooking water, whizz again, and continue adding more water until it reaches a sauce-like consistency.  If it’s still too thick after you’ve used up all the cooking water, wait until the pasta is cooked and then use water from that pan too thin the sauce further.
  
• Check the seasoning. 
• In the meantime, cook your pasta of choice according to the instructions on the package.  If the sauce has thickened again, you can use some of the pasta water in the sauce to thin it to the correct consistency, if necessary.

Drain the spaghetti and mix in the sauce. Serve piping hot, with more black pepper ground over it.

 

Notes:

• If you don’t have a blender, you can still make this into a delicious sauce, but of course it won’t be as creamy. 

Variations:

• Leave out the salt and/or lemon juice and add some salted lemon at the blender stage.
• Add freshly-grated nutmeg just before serving.
• instead of blending in the walnuts, chop them, to add additional texture to the sauce.
• Instead of using onion powder, chop a small onion and cook it with the broccoli.
• Rather than using this as a pasta sauce, pour it over vegetables or any main course dish. 
   
  You will find many more pasta based recipes, here: 
   
   
  Edited 22/7/25  

Mushrooms and Brussels sprouts with creamy hemp sauce

Blender Alert

I love Brussels sprouts and it always seems a bit of a shame to use them as an addition on the side rather than star of the show. They go very well with mushrooms and mixed with this thick hemp sauce, shine in a really good combination to go with pasta.

Hemp seeds, aka hemp hearts

Hemp seeds, also known as hemp hearts, are one of the latest wonder foods, but I particularly like them for making vegan milk and a cream for cooking, because there’s no need to soak them first. Hemp is also a very low-impact crop to grow, requiring little water and no fertiliser; it doesn’t have to be grown in the tropics and processing the seeds doesn’t mean (generally) women are using caustic chemicals, often with inadequate protection, so we should certainly use it in preference to cashew nuts. To serve, linguine, or fettuccine are my choice.

Unfortunately, you really do need a blender or this sauce, although, of course, you could take the concept and use some other form of cream.

Serves 2

Ingredients

olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 medium onion, diced

200 ml water

1/2 cup hemp seeds

1/2 tsp mushroom stock powder

2 tbsp nutritional yeast

1/4 tsp salt

generous grind black pepper

2 cups Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved

6 or 8 button mushrooms, thickly sliced

fettucine or linguine – about 25mm/1” dia. stacked on end

Parmesan cheese to serve

Method

• Heat some olive oil in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the garlic and onion and cook for a couple of minutes, until the onions become translucent. Remove from heat.
• Now add the cooked onion and garlic to a blender, together with the water, hemp hearts, stock powder (if using), nutritional yeast, salt and pepper. Blend for a minute or so to make a smooth and creamy sauce. Taste and adjust seasonings.
• Put some more oil in the saucepan, and add the Brussels sprouts and cook for a few minutes, until they start to brown on the edges.
• Meanwhile, add water to another saucepan and bring to the boil for the pasta. When it’s boiling, cook the pasta as usual.
• Now add the mushrooms to the sprouts and fry for a few more minutes, stirring frequently, until they are browned. A pinch of salt might help here.
• Lower the heat and add the prepared sauce to the vegetables and stir to combine. Gently cook the sauce until it’s thick. When the pasta is cooked, add it to the pan, saving the pasta water, into a jug. Use some of this water to rinse out the blender and add to the pan.
• Cook the sauce a little longer: if it seems too thick, add more of the pasta water.

Serve immediately with extra hemp seeds and/or Parmesan or vegan "Parmesan" cheese.

Notes:

• The pasta sauce will thicken quickly once heated. Keep a close eye on it. If it is too thick, add extra pasta water to loosen it up.

Variations:

• You could use other vegetables, such as asparagus, green beans, mange-tout peas, etc instead of the Brussels sprouts. But the latter are particularly good!

• One alternative I would recommend is broccoli, but cut it into very small florets, the same size as half a sprout, otherwise the sauce won’t coat everything evenly.
• Substitute dried mushrooms for fresh, if these are unavailable.

 

Pasta with chickpeas and vegetables in tahini sauce

I have just suggested 'Pasta' for his recipe, because it will really go with just about any short pasta.  Indeed, if you make more sauce, it would also successfully coat a longer type of pasta.  While I've suggested specific vegetables, this is essentially a meal that can be made using ingredients you’d have in your lockers, with whatever vegetables you have to hand. There is, however, one proviso to this: I suggest sprinkling black sesame seeds over the meal when it’s served: white sesame seeds can be used as a substitute, but the black ones look and taste great!

 

Serves 2

 

Ingredients

1/2 cup of chickpeas, soaked and cooked

olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

about 4 button mushrooms, sliced

1/2 red pepper, chopped

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp chilli flakes, or to taste

about 6 florets from a head of broccoli

4 handfuls of pasta, such as fusilli

2 tbsp tahini

reserved water from the pasta

salt and pepper

1 tbsp black sesame seeds

 

Method:

• Cook the chickpeas in the usual way and set aside.
• Add olive oil to a large saucepan over a moderately high heat.
• Add the onions and garlic and cook for a few minutes until the onions are softening, stirring frequently to ensure nothing burns.
• Add the mushroom and red pepper and sprinkle with salt, stir into the onions and garlic and cook for a few minutes until there is some colour on both the onions and red peppers, then lower the heat. Add in the chilli flakes, stir well and cover. Leave over a low heat while you cook the pasta.
• Bring salted water to boil in a saucepan and throw in the pasta. Stir well to ensure that it doesn’t stick together. Bring back to the boil, cover and lower the heat so that it doesn’t boil over. Set the timer for 5 minutes
• When the timer rings, add the broccoli florets and cook until both pasta and broccoli are just not soft. If you like crunchy broccoli, wait a bit longer before adding it.
• While this is cooking, put the tahini into a small, together with generous amounts of salt and pepper. When the pasta and broccoli are done, remove them from the water, using a slotted spoon, or drain the water into a jug, and add them to the vegetables.
• Add a tablespoonful or so of pasta water to the tahini and mix to a smooth consistency. Tahini varies tremendously in how thick it is, but you want to end up with a sauce that pours easily and will coat the pasta and vegetables. Mix with a butter knife or mini whisk until it becomes a creamy colour, then add to the pan.
• Stir gently until everything is mixed and serve.

Garnish with a generous amount of black sesame seeds.

 

Note:

• If you have no black sesame seeds, substitute with white.
• I'm not sure the pasta water has the same effect when used with gluten-free pasta, but it can't do any harm!
  

Variations: 

• Use white beans instead of chickpeas.
• Replace the broccoli with cauliflower florets.
• For a voyaging variation, use chopped cabbage.
• Add green beans or asparagus with or instead of some of the other vegetables.
• Replace the red pepper with carrot.
• Add a couple of tbsp of freeze-dried peas with or instead of some of the vegetables.
• Use bulgur wheatinstead of pasta. In this case you will have to cook the broccoli separately.
• Add chopped fresh herbs, if you have some.