Roasting peppers at home is something that my mother taught me years ago and that I practice regularly. It helps us to always have a wonderful product in our pantry that we can use with a multitude of recipes such as muhammara, the classic Extremaduran salad called zorongollo or the delicious recipe that we bring you today: a roasted pepper risotto very italian.
The recipe earns a lot (a lot) if roast the peppers over firewood, on a barbecue or in the oven (the gastronomy experts at DAP explain to us step by step how to roast peppers), but if we are tight on time we can take advantage of that cute little gadget we have in the kitchen and that is used for much more than just heating the coffee: we can roast the peppers in microwave. We can even use canned peppers that we will have in the pantry.
We start by heating the vegetable broth (best homemade), in a saucepan. The first trick to make risotto is to always add the hot broth, so while we are making the sauce, we can go heating our broth.
While it is heating, chop the onion very small and chop the roasted peppers, keeping all that juice that they release when roasting. In a frying pan with a little oil, add the spring onion with a pinch of salt so that it softens, and gently poach until translucent.
It’s time to add the rice to lightly toast, so we turn up the heat and let it roast until it has a pearly color. We salt and water with the white wine and let the alcohol evaporate little by little. Once it has evaporated, add the chopped peppers and the tomato paste.
We are going to give the risotto a kick with the broth, and the trick so that it always comes out perfect is to add the broth little by little, stir and do not add more until the rice has absorbed all broth. We pour saucepan by saucepan, without haste. This way we will never miss out.
When the rice is ready, turn off the heat and add both the butter and the grated Parmesan (a good handful), moving to keep the mixture and give it that shine and creaminess essential in a good risotto.
It is important that, as in any risotto, we serve immediately with a good Parmesan so that everyone can add cheese to taste. A pinch of freshly ground black pepper at the table, and you’re good to go. Platazo.
And if after this roasted pepper risotto you have been wanting more recipes for this typical Italian dish, we give you a bonus in video format: salmon risotto with crispy cheese. Make a loaf of the best bread you’ll ever need.
Photos | Direct to the Palate
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