3 Minute Risotto 3 Ways

This is the risotto we served at Medusa—rich, creamy, and packed with flavor. We always started with a proper base: shallots and garlic sautéed in butter until fragrant, then deglazed with white wine before adding the stock. The key was constant stirring, slowly incorporating the liquid to coax out that signature velvety texture.

_Standard Risotto | Asparagus Risotto | Seafood Risotto_

For the scallop version, we used dry-packed sea scallops, seared to a golden crust and placed on top just before serving. For the asparagus version, we folded in blanched asparagus and finished with a touch of saffron for depth. No matter the variation, we always finished with Parmigiano-Reggiano, fresh herbs, and just the right balance of seasoning. Simple, classic, and exactly how we did it in the kitchen at Medusa.

*Pre-Cooked Risotto Prep*

INGREDIENTS

6 cups water
1.5 cups Arborio risotto rice

INSTRUCTIONS

Bring the water to a boil in a medium saucepan.
Add the risotto rice to the boiling water, reduce heat to medium, and simmer for exactly 8 minutes.
Cooling: Strain the cooked risotto and immediately shock it with cold water to stop the cooking process.
Storage: Cover the pre-cooked risotto with a clean, wet towel until ready to use in your final dish.
Note: The standard ratio for cooking risotto is 3 to 4 parts liquid to 1 part rice.

*3-Minute Risotto*
_Yield: Serves 2_

INGREDIENTS

Proteins & Vegetables:
– 1 cup asparagus, cleaned, chopped, and blanched
– Sea scallops (or shrimp/lobster)

Standard Risotto:
– 1.5 cups pre-cooked risotto rice
– 2 tbsp unsalted butter
– 2 cloves garlic, minced
– 1 shallot, finely chopped

Cooking Liquids:
– 1 cup chicken broth
– ½ cup heavy cream
– 2 oz white wine
– Cayenne pepper sauce (to taste)

Finish & Season:
– 3 oz Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated
– Salt & black pepper (to taste)

Asparagus Variation:
– Saffron strands

Garnish:
– 2 tbsp fresh herbs (dill, cilantro, Italian parsley)
– Black pepper
– Parmigiano-Reggiano

this week I’m showing you how to make risoto three different ways seafood risoto plain old risoto and a vegetable risoto it’s easy to make zach is dying to try it cuz he knows it’s going to be delicious so check us out for this video when you make risoto from scratch it’s about a 20 25minut process now I wanted to sell risoto in my restaurant i didn’t have that kind of time to make it to order like that so what I did and this is a pearl giving you one of my pearls from the restaurant i used to take boiling water i would add the risoto i would cook it for exactly 8 minutes so you get the water boiling add the risoto and turn the heat down to medium you simmer it for 8 minutes exactly you strain it you shock it with cold water and what you end up with is this risoto here so I’m going to make three different types of risoto so I can show you a little bit of your chopped shallots touch your garlic you can get these turned on i got them on a towel cuz we want them nice and dry that’s how we’re going to get a nice crust on them just a little bit of salt pepper sometimes they sprinkle these with curry powder just to give them a little bit of heat i got my pan going with olive oil we’re going to get that blazing going [Music] and now I’m going to add a risoto it’s about a cup of juice that I made with one quart of heavy cream two quarts of chicken stock i’m going to start my asparagus which I’ve chopped up and just put a little bit of water in it if you have my scallop started in a nice hot pan here we’re doing shrimp or lobster you do this in a thin way and what I liked about this recipe is when someone ordered a risoto it only took two or 3 minutes oh we’re going to put a splash of white wine in these two [Music] just a touch of my cayenne pepper sauce which we showed you how to make see this asparagus just a touch of water when I make a risoto with vegetables I like to cook the veggies and the seafood on the side that way it doesn’t get overcooked turn that heat down just a little bit what we’re doing here while we’re boiling the cream our broth we’re finishing the rice off to each one of these we’re going to add 3 oz of Parmesano region now in one of these I’m going to put a few strands of saffron [Music] we’re turning the heat off on these now cuz Rotto is not supposed to be like wallpaper based okay those are all off this asparagus is getting close to being done just a touch of salt just a whisper [Music] delicious notice how that saffron starting to bleed some of that yellowess you notice how this asparagus not perfectly cooked will drain out any of the extra water you can do this with broccoli you can do this with spinach you could sauté mushrooms so I got the asparagus in with the saffron risoto all right so for regular risoto that’s what you have when you make it from scratch it’s still a little bit loose this is how we served it at the restaurant little bit of pepper some fresh herbs scallops put your risoto down your seafood risoto just touch pepper then our third one that we have here we have asparagus risoto you know and I like to make my vegetable risotos a little bit more vegetably cuz it makes it easier to eat and we garnish this with black pepper and a little bit of chopped herbs now if you want you can take just a touch of cheese just a whisper of cheese okay not a lot just enough to garnish it but we took one risoto recipe and made three different risotos here and they’re all beautifully creamy you know they don’t set up look at this that’s that’s risoto you know that’s a beautiful risoto so that’s how we make risoto in the restaurant thank you very much i appreciate everybody who’s watching and I’m just gonna keep sending pearls out there but this is shut the front door risoto and you can make this at home and you don’t have to go through the 25minut process cook whatever seafood mushrooms vegetables herbs just use quality ingredients use good cheese put just a little bit of butter in there and you can make risoto like this at home very easily it’s not hard trust me you could do