It feels like forever since the last time I got creative in the kitchen. I haven’t stopped cooking, but my menus consist lately of quick and easy dishes and many others that I have already posted on this blog. The beautiful weather we’ve had in Central Ohio in the last couple of weeks makes me want to spend more time outdoors and less in the kitchen.
But yesterday I decided to make something daring and creative, strawberry and basil risotto. This dish was inspired by last month’s ingredients of the Royal Foodie Joust. I didn’t have time to participate but the ingredients chosen by LK of Healthy Delicious, strawberries, basin and grain, intrigued me so much I decided to make something with them, anyway. I used some locally grown strawberries that I bought at the store and some of the basil from the little herb garden I started last month. That makes me even prouder of this dish.
Strawberry and Basil Risotto
The ingredients:
- 2 TBSP butter
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1 cup Arborio rice
- 4-6 cups chicken broth, warm
- 3/4 cup strawberries
- 1 TBSP fresh basil
- salt and pepper to taste
The how-to:
- Blend strawberries and basil with 1 cup of chicken broth.
- Melt butter in a cast-iron skillet or any other heavy skillet. Add chopped onion and saute.
- Add Arborio rice and mix well with the onion. Add the strawberry mix, bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Simmer and stir constantly until the liquid is absorbed.
- When the strawberry mix is absorbed add one cup of warm chicken broth. When that cup of broth is absorbed add another cup of broth and keep stirring until it is absorbed. Repeat one more time.
- At this point the rice should be al dente. Taste and adjust seasoning. If the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is still not tender enough, add another cup of broth.
- Remove from heat and serve immediately.
Notes:
- Arborio rice is a fat, starchy, medium grain rice and it is the most common rice to make risotto in the U.S. Other rices that work well are Roma, Vialone, Carnaroli, Nano and Maratelli. The regular short or long grain rice will not work for this recipe.
- The cooking time for risotto is about 30 minutes. You must stay close to the skillet the whole time stirring and testing the rice. It might look like a long time, but trust me, it is worth every minute you spend watching it.
The afterthoughts:
- This risotty was creamier than the first one I made some months ago. I attribute this to the use of butter instead of olive oil.
- Although I used a little bit too much salt, the taste was still very good. I will have to make it again and watch the use of seasoning to decide how much I really like it, but the strawberry and basil flavors were still a good combination with the rice.
- Food styling tip: I was expecting a vibrant red color from the use of strawberries, but when I added the basil/strawberry mixture to the rice it took an ugly brown color that wasn’t very appetizing. To fix this I added a little bit of red food coloring that worked great.
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¡Buen provecho!
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Indigo
The colour of this is incredible! And it looks delicious, I’m so intrigued by using strawberries in a savoury dish. Sounds good!
KennyT
This dessert is very new but looks delish to me. Have bookmarked ur recipe, thanks a lot for sharing.
nina
The color is simply incredible!!! So intense and the flavors must have been as intense. Great thinking!!!
Jen of a2eatwrite
So beautiful. This is just off the hook as far as creativity goes. I’m still wondering what the taste would be like. Do you serve it alone or with something else? A salad?
Hélène
This is such an amazing dish. The variety in your kitchen is interesting.
Laura
Look at that color! This looks fabulous. I love strawberry and basil together. Usually it’s in a mojito, but I’m willing to try anything. Not to mention I’ve got a bag of arborio laying around. Thanks so much for getting creative and sharing it with us!
Bellini Valli
Look at the beautiful colour Ben. On another note my dad sent me a disgital SLR for my birthday…so many more options for good (or mediocre) photography:D
elly
This is a gorgeous dish! I’m sure it tasted delicious, too.
MeetaK
wow no that is a great looking risotto! simply outrageous!
Leela@SheSimmers
Amazing! I don’t know how you think up stuff like this, Ben. Very creative. Beautiful photographs.
Maria
Fabulous photo, the colors are stunning! I bet it tastes good too:)
Angie's Recipes
The photo, the colours, the presentation…How creative!
Angie’s Recipes
Angie's Recipes
The photo, the colours, the presentation…How creative!
Angie’s Recipes
Parita
Wow what a flavorful risotto, so innovative!
Rosa
I really have to try that dish before the end of the summer! A wonderful presentation and gorgeous shots!
Cheers,
Rosa
kat
What an interesting dish. The color is gorgeous even is you had to doctor it up a bit
Janet @Gourmet Traveller88
Wow, I heard that strawberry can be used in risotto when I was in Tuscany last week and you made it, awesome!
Erica
Wow! That dish looks absolutely delicious.
Amazing pictures as usual.
baobabs
Yours looks absolutely gorgeous! Your photography skills are amazing! Good idea to blend the strawberries! The ones I make are always pink, I use 1/2 glass of red wine to add to the colour and put a dash of spicy and tongue numbing Sichuan pepper to garnish.
Tim
Wow, the colour is striking! I’ve never had strawberries as the star of a main meal before, but I have to admit this looks pretty interesting. The combination of strawberries and chicken stock is so unusual — how did it taste?
Muneeba
Wow, this rivals my beet & cheddar risotto in color! fantastic! and what a pleasing combo of flavors.
The Duo Dishes
How do you come up with these ideas? Splendid! So different, and that color pops!
Natashya
Gorgeous! I love the colour, thanks for the styling tip.
Simone (junglefrog)
O wow what a fantastic colors Ben! And the flavours must have been great too! I had seen a strawberry risotto somewhere before but not with these vibrant colors!
Kevin
What an amazing colour! I really like the sound of a strawberry risotto!
Marta
Oh gosh Ben!
This looks superb!!!
The colour is like a jewel!!!
What a great dish, thanks for sharing it!
_ts of [eatingclub] vancouver
A savory one! At first I thought it was a dessert risotto. =)
Sophie
Lovely, lovely, lovely strawberry risotto! So delectable! Yummie!
Adam
That color really is sharp looking dude. When I was younger, the only way I would eat rice would be to mix jam in it… weird I know. This somehow reminds me of that…. but obviously way more grown up and mature
Usha
The risotto looks lovely, fantastic color ….looks perfect for summer !
Emily
I tried this recipe last night – it was really good, but we gave it a little twist by drizzling a little balsamic vinegar on the top (I’ve always like the strawberry/balsamic combo). Really unique!
Bren
como desimos nostros Cubanos, “te lo comiste con esta foto.” felicidades! me’ncanta la combinación de fresas con basil. Nice!
Bernadette
I found this on tastespotting and I was so in love with the idea that i made this as my first risotto ever. we finished eating it about an hour ago and STILL cannot stop talking about it. thank you so much! food colouring was definitely necessary, but i will stick to your risotto method for as long as i cook. awesome post, thank you!
Bernadette
This is absolutely amazing; I used your recipe for my first ever attempt at risotto! Here's how it turned out. Thanks again for bringing me into the warm gooey starchy wonderful world of risotto.
http://garlicharlot.blogspot.com/2010/09/butternu…