Almond Risotto with Walnuts and Raisins
Ingredients
2 servings
- Arborio rice 1 cup (180 g)
- Vegetable stock or water 0.8–1 l
- Almonds 100 g
- Walnuts 50 g
- Raisins 50 g
- Onion 1
- Olive oil 3 tbsp
- Parmesan (grated) 3 tbsp (20 g)
- Salt 4–5 g
- Dried oregano a pinch
- Sugar to taste
- Boiling and warm water for soaking the almonds and raisins
Step-by-step recipe
Preparing the nuts and raisins
To make almond risotto you need special rice varieties with plenty of starch and large grains: Arborio, Baldo, Roma or Carnaroli. They give a good risotto its creamy, refined taste that leaves no gourmet indifferent. The most popular risotto rice is Arborio. Its large, rounded grain and high starch content make the dish flawless.
Toast the almonds and walnuts. You can do it in the oven, keeping the nuts at 180–200 °C for 5–7 mins, or in a dry frying pan. But the easiest and quickest way is the microwave: 1.5–2 mins at full power.
Peel the nuts: pour boiling water over the toasted almonds and leave them for 10–12 mins. In that time the unappetizing outer skin softens and swells, and the almonds are easy to peel with your fingers. Toasted and cooled walnuts can simply be rubbed between your palms to loosen the skin a little.
Rinse the raisins and cover them with warm water for 10–15 mins so they plump up, then drain.
By the way, you can also add other dried fruit (dried apricots, prunes) or candied fruit to the nutty rice.
Chop the peeled almonds and walnuts. You can slice the almonds into flakes and leave the walnuts whole. But for a more uniform nutty rice it is better to grind them very fine with a blender or in a mortar.
Risotto
Fry the onion: chop it very finely and fry in olive oil over medium heat in a saucepan or a thick-bottomed frying pan. Once the onion is soft and nicely golden, salt it lightly and add a pinch of dried oregano.
Add the rice to the onion, stir and fry for 3–4 mins so the grains are coated with oil. Pour in half a cup of water (100 ml) or vegetable stock, stir and bring to a boil. Lower the heat so it barely simmers and cook covered until the rice has absorbed all the liquid and is almost dry.
Cook the rice until done, adding water or stock in small portions and stirring. Add each next portion only after the previous one has been fully absorbed, until the risotto is completely cooked and creamy.
When the rice is almost done, add the chopped almonds and walnuts and the rinsed raisins. Stir so the risotto is uniform and cook for another 2–3 mins.
Add sugar to taste, sprinkle the rice with finely grated Parmesan, stir quickly and remove from the heat.
Serving
Put the almond risotto on plates, sprinkle with sugar and ground nuts if you like, and decorate with whole almonds. Serve right away.
Almond risotto is a wonderful, filling dish. With a little honey added, it is quite suitable for children.
Calories and macros
1120 kcal
Serving ≈ 440 g
- Protein26 g9% of kcal
- Fat66 g53% of kcal
- Carbs103 g37% of kcal
100 g257 kcalProtein 6 gFat 15.1 gCarbs 23.8 g
Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.