Risottos and braises are not the same, since a risotto is not covered at any point in the cooking process. But they are related in that the rice is fried with butter at the beginning, then cooked slowly in liquid. Well, they're close enough anyway to make us feel that this deliciously warm, chewy and gooey caramel risotto is in keeping with our theme this week.
This is a simple but heavenly dish, requiring just a little milk, some sugar and rice, and a lot of stirring. Together they turn out a rich, not-too-sweet dessert with lightly chewy grains of rice enmeshed in a gooey, burnt-sweet milk caramel.
It's different from a rice pudding in that it is closer to a traditional risotto, with distinctly al dente grains of rice, cooked to a pleasing chewiness in a sauce made, in part, through the abrasion of starch caused by stirring the rice.
Caramel Risotto
makes about 1 quart
1/2 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup Arborio rice
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 cups whole milk
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 cup cream
Melt butter in a large heavy stockpot and cook the rice over medium heat for 3 or 4 minutes, stirring until translucent and golden. Add the salt and 4 cups of whole milk and bring to a boil, then lower to a steady simmer and cook for about 15 minutes, or until the grains of rice are beginning to soften and swell.
Meanwhile, heat the sugar and water in a pot with tall sides. A 1-quart saucepan will do, but be very careful. Put the cream in a smaller saucepan over low heat and warm. Heat the sugar and water over high heat until boiling. Boil without stirring until it turns a dark amber color. When the color begins to turn stir with a dry, clean spoon to keep the caramelization even. Hold on and let it get fairly dark; even if it burns a little that will be better than leaving it too light. When the caramel is dark enough, pull the pan off the heat and carefully add the cream, a little at a time. This is one of the most fierce reactions in the kitchen - be careful as it will bubble up and spatter. Stir in the cream.
Add the caramel mixture to the rice, stirring well. Stir this mixture over medium-low heat, keeping it to a steady simmer, for about 20 minutes. It's necessary to stir quite steadily to keep it from burning and to keep the rice moving.
The liquid will reduce and get darker, and the rice will swell more. It will look soupy. Keep cooking it down until it's the thickness you prefer - remembering, however, that it will firm up considerably in the fridge. Serve with whipped cream.
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oh god i bet this would be good with farro substituted for rice. I have an easier time eating farro in a sweet prep than I do rice. Toss some beautiful roasted fruit on top, and it could be breakfast too ;-)
Holy moly this sounds good. I happen to know a rice pudding freak, and I feel like I could slide this risotto right in there as a happy surprise. YUM!
Wow, that sounds delish :)
This sounds delicious! My grandmother used to make a filipino chocolate version - I think it was called champorado (or something). It was the most wonderful breakfast ever!
MASARAP NA!!!!
I will be making this on Sunday!!!
Wow this sounds really unique, I don't think I've seen a sweet risotto before. Cool!
oooo i think i'd serve this warm with ice cream, like Thai sticky rice and ice cream desserts.
Oooh wow. I think using coconut milk instead of cow milk would also work really well with the risotto for some real Southeast Asian action.
I made this yesterday. It turned out a little rich and soupy for my taste, but it was delicious over ice cream. Next time I think I will double the rice and use lower-fat milk.
view Viv's profile
I just tried making this (well, it's still sitting on the stove).
I halved the recipe because I could see that I was going to mess it up and I didn't want to waste all that. Anyway, everything seemed to be going ok, the cream ended up bubbling before I added it to the caramel, does that make a difference? Anyway it's really, really soupy, like, many many more parts liquid than rice and it doesn't seem like it's going to look like the picture at all!!!
Can anyone offer any help, I really want to get this right.
view alicia's profile
alicia - you genuinely have to stir and simmer for a solid 20 minutes to let everything cook down. I honestly thought it wasn't going to turn out at all until the very end, when it cooked down into a loose pudding.
A couple more points: the rice should be fairly soft before you add the caramel, because it's not going to soften a lot more after you add it.
Also, like a lot of rice puddings, it's going to look somewhat soupy while it's still hot. Let it cool down and then refrigerate; this will firm it up considerably. Mine turned into a solid, basically.
Does that help at all?
I'm going to make this again soon and this time I'll take more pictures to show the stages.
view faith's profile
Thanks, Faith,
Maybe I'll try it again soon. I have burnt stains on one of my pans from the caramel and it wasn't too wonderful smelling (or tasting) either!!
view alicia's profile
I really wanted to like this recipe!
I tried it this weekend and I don't think it turned out well - very soupy when hot and a really gross consistency after refrigerated. I followed the directions just fine but I think if I did it again, I'd do it more like a traditional risotto - not putting all the liquid in at once, but stirring it in gradually - this might reduce the soupiness (I hope). Plus, allowing the caramel to get too dark and just on the side of slightly burned was not a good option for my taste - I didn't like the slightly bitter flavor.
view Kelli's profile