When you put too much rice in your spaghetti, then it becomes a complete disaster. When you add too much of this and that, it becomes an avalanche. So when I read the label of this recipe in The Great British Cookery Cookbook by Julia Child, I thought, “Hmm, that sounds like risotto (I think).
Well, you’re right! It is risotto! And by risotto, I mean the kind of rice you’d pick up from the Italian market. A lot of rice is thrown out because it has no taste and isn’t healthy. But risotto is really good for you. You’re eating a high-quality, whole grain, low sodium, nutrient-dense grain which is packed with good, healthy nutrients.
The reason for the risotto craze: Its healthy. The average American eats about 300 calories per day, and while we have about 300 calories of fat and about 20% of our calories come from fat, the calories in risotto come from whole-grain white rice, which has about 70 calories per cup. Thats quite a difference. And you can have it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Sure, risotto is a traditional Italian dish, but if it’s going to be healthy, it’s got to be good for you. The calories are low, the grains are whole, and the nutrient density of the grain is great. And it comes in convenient containers which you can eat with a variety of things.
Yeah, this is a great recipe to put in your own cookbook. And for a bit of additional flavor, we recommend cutting a couple of the raspellas and sprinkling them on top.
While risotto can be healthy, it can also be a bit too much of a good thing. For a healthy risotto, you want to make sure the grain you use has the right amount of carbs. To do this, you want to use a whole grain such as farro, spelt, or barley, and you want to make sure it is a good source of complex carbs (like fiber) and doesn’t get processed into a grain food or other processed foods.
That being said, I’m not sure if any of the recipes for risotto that you read or watch on TLC are healthy. The ones with the words “healthy” aren’t really, but you see a good way to make a healthy risotto is to use whole grain risotto rice. Whole grain rice is a great source of fiber and complex carbs, as well as protein and vitamin B1.
This is good news. The fact is, we’ve already been eating whole grain rice for a long time. You can get it in most grocery stores that stock a variety of grains. If you make sure the rice is cooked to a perfect al dente (no raw center) and the rice is not too dry, you can actually cook it into a risotto.
The problem is that no one cooks rice until they put it in the pot. It takes a lot of time to cook rice, and it will turn into mush if it sits for too long in the pot. So if you want to learn how to cook risotto, you have to do it yourself. The best way to do this is to cook the rice in a saucepan and add your ingredients as it cooks.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve never heard of risotto. Or, I’m pretty sure I’ve never heard of it. I’ve heard that the name is made by a chef, and it’s really a really beautiful dish.