The strawberry risotto isn’t a dessert but an actual risotto with its own flavor that I recommend trying at least once! It’s a timeless recipe that presents beautifully thanks to the bright red color of the strawberries.
For this recipe, you can use strawberries or wild strawberries, as long as they are in season and have flavor and aroma to release during cooking.
If you like strawberries, don’t forget to check out the recipe
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Rest time: 2 Minutes
- Preparation time: 5 Minutes
- Portions: 2
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Spring, Summer
- Energy 548.25 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 87.40 (g) of which sugars 9.37 (g)
- Proteins 14.64 (g)
- Fat 14.22 (g) of which saturated 0.99 (g)of which unsaturated 0.59 (g)
- Fibers 3.55 (g)
- Sodium 1,681.04 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 150 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for 2 people:
- 1 cup Carnaroli rice
- 1 shallot
- 5.6 oz strawberries
- 2 strawberries (beautiful and whole for decoration)
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1 1/4 glass dry white wine
- 1 1/2 robiola cheese
- as needed extra virgin olive oil
- as needed salt
Tools:
- 1 Pot
- 1 Pot (with 3-quart capacity)
- 1 Cutting board
- 1 Knife
Preparation
To make this strawberry risotto, we’ll use very few ingredients. The trick is in balancing the flavors to achieve a fresh dish with a sweet and tangy note without it tasting like a dessert.
My secret for a good strawberry risotto is in the broth. When I can, I always make it fresh at home following the recipe you can find here. If you’re in a hurry, you can use a vegetable bouillon cube or pre-made broth.
The broth must be hot to avoid stopping the rice from cooking when added.
Chop the shallot (or onion) into very fine cubes (read here how to do it) and put it in a pan with two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.
The flame must be low; the shallot should not burn but gently sauté to release its flavor into the oil.
Sauté the onion or shallot with a dash of oil for a couple of minutes in a hot pan without burning it. When it’s ready, add the rice and start toasting it.
A couple of minutes are enough to toast the rice well. Be careful not to burn it. You’ll know the rice is toasted when you feel the heat by placing your hand above it (without touching).
At this point, you need to deglaze the rice with the wine and stir the risotto so it absorbs the flavor without letting it evaporate. It only takes 20-30 seconds, and once the wine has evaporated, it’s time to add the broth!
Add the hot broth gradually to avoid stopping the rice’s cooking and to keep it creamy.
If you use a non-stick pan like me, you don’t need to stir the risotto continuously; just stir it occasionally if the broth evaporates too much and the rice clumps.
Cut the strawberries into cubes; they shouldn’t be too small because in cooking, as they release water, the cubes will shrink. After about 7-8 minutes from the start of cooking, add the strawberry cubes to the risotto.
Complete the cooking, and after another 5-7 minutes, remove the rice from the heat and let it rest for a couple of minutes, so the risotto further dries but remains creamy
Add the half robiola and stir the risotto so it fully absorbs. You can substitute the robiola with a knob of butter, but the recipe becomes less light.
Your strawberry risotto is ready
Plating Tips:
You can make the strawberry risotto more beautiful by decorating it with a strawberry cut into slices and spreading them in a fan shape on the plate.
To create the peacock tail, create a small triangle cut in the strawberry, then increase the size by cutting more until you reach halfway. Large, firm strawberries work best for this.
Wine Pairing for Strawberry Risotto:
Strawberry risotto pairs very well with sparkling wines; I recommend it with a dry sparkling white wine such as Valdobiadene (perhaps vintage). To enhance the pairing, you can use the same wine to deglaze the risotto.
