Bell Pepper Risotto with Parmesan

Name: Bell Pepper Risotto with Parmesan: Easy Recipe
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 1 h
Cuisine: Italian cuisine
Ingredients: Arborio rice 1 cup (180 g); Broth (vegetable or chicken) 0.8–1 l; Sweet bell pepper (red or green) 1-2; Onion 1; Fresh basil 1 sprig; Garlic 2 cloves; Parmesan 50 g; Olive oil 3 tbsp; Salt 4–5 g; Sugar 1 tsp (5 g); Ground white pepper to taste; Nutmeg a pinch (on the tip of a knife)

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60 mins

Rice with pepper cooked risotto-style is a dish typical of Italian cuisine. Italian restaurants make risotto from the most varied recipes, with vegetables, fruit, fish or meat as the filling. It’s amazing how much rice Italy consumes. Risotto is most often eaten at lunch and served in deep plates. Like seafood risotto.

Strictly speaking, rice is not native to Italy: it arrived with traders and enjoyed a second birth there.

The Italian rice varieties Carnaroli, Arborio and Vialone Nano have become traditional in Italy, especially in the north, where in Piedmont and Lombardy, for example, rice is considered almost a local landmark.

The main feature of Italian rice is its very high starch content, which lets the rice absorb much more liquid while cooking, so the risotto turns out creamy and tender.

The general principle of Italian risotto is to fry the rice first and then cook it with added liquid, keeping the balance between rice and moisture.

Making pepper risotto for breakfast with seasonal vegetables, onion and sweet bell pepper, with Parmesan added, is as easy as pie. In Italy such a dish, and indeed all dishes like it, is called cacio e pepe, meaning “cheese and pepper,” without stressing which pepper; often it’s just ground black pepper. The general rules are in the recipe for vegetable risotto, and with tomatoes you get tomato and paprika risotto. Next in the risotto series is onion risotto.

Ingredients

2 servings

Arborio rice 1 cup (180 g)
Broth (vegetable or chicken) 0.8–1 l
Sweet bell pepper (red or green) 1-2
Onion 1
Fresh basil 1 sprig
Garlic 2 cloves
Parmesan 50 g
Olive oil 3 tbsp
Salt 4–5 g
Sugar 1 tsp (5 g)
Ground white pepper to taste
Nutmeg a pinch (on the tip of a knife)

Step-by-step recipe

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Preparing the ingredients

In Italian, the word risotto means “little rice.” It’s like saying not “potato” but “little potato,” tenderly and affectionately, with great love. That easily explains the Italians’ attachment to rice.

In principle, you can add almost anything to the rice when making risotto. You needn’t even choose carefully, since there are practically no established rules for risotto.

Prepare the rice and vegetables. Arborio rice doesn’t need rinsing; any other high-starch Italian rice (Carnaroli, Vialone Nano, Roma, Baldo) will do in its place.
Peel the onion and chop it very finely. Remove the seeds and stem from the bell pepper and chop it very finely with a knife. Peel the garlic and flatten the cloves with the flat of a knife. Grate the Parmesan.

Frying the vegetables and rice

Flavor the oil with garlic: pour olive oil into a deep frying pan and fry the crushed garlic cloves over medium heat until they change color. The garlic’s job is to flavor the oil, after which it is discarded.
Fry the finely chopped onion in this oil until golden, stirring.
Fry and sauté the pepper. Add the pepper, cut into small cubes, to the onion and fry for 5-6 minutes, stirring constantly.
Add white pepper to taste, salt, 1 tsp of sugar (5 g) and a pinch of grated nutmeg. Stir and simmer covered over medium heat for another 5 minutes.
Fry the rice with the vegetables: add the rice, stir and fry it together with the pepper and onion, stirring, for at least 5 minutes, until the grains are coated with oil.

Cooking the risotto

Cook the rice, adding broth. Usually broth is added; if you have vegetable stock or chicken broth, it’s better hot. Add it in small portions, about a ladleful at a time, over medium heat, stirring, and add the next portion only after the previous one has been absorbed.
Keep adding broth until the rice with pepper is uniform, slightly flowing and tender, and the rice is fully cooked, usually about 20 minutes. The consistency is thicker than ordinary porridge but less thick than pilaf. It should be something in between.
Finish the risotto with Parmesan. Set aside 1 tsp of grated Parmesan (2 g) and grind it with fresh basil leaves to sprinkle on top. Add the rest of the Parmesan to the cooked rice, take the pan off the heat and stir at once.

Serving

Divide the pepper risotto among plates and sprinkle with Parmesan and basil. Serve immediately, while the risotto is hot.

Calories and macros

680 kcal

Serving ≈ 440 g

Protein17 g10% of kcal
Fat28 g38% of kcal
Carbs85 g51% of kcal

100 g157 kcalProtein 4 gFat 6.5 gCarbs 19.5 g

Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.

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