Brown Butter Chestnut Risotto
This chestnut risotto is the perfect autumn winter dinner. It’s actually incredibly simple to make but feels like you’ve really gone to a lot of effort, and the result is an extra special dinner for one. I've also put my top tips for the best risotto below so be sure to check that out. This is perfect for a date night dinner for one, especially during the holidays.
The key to the perfect risotto is to cook it slowly, on a medium-low heat. You want to stir frequently to agitate the starch in the rice which will give you a beautifully silky rice. Don't make the risotto too thick! If you draw a spatula through the middle of the pan you want the risotto to gently ease it's way into the gap, and not to hold its shape. I also find that taking it off the heat a minute before it has finished cooking is a great way to ensure the perfect bite in your rice.
Chestnuts are a lovely festive ingredient and you can be them ready-cooked so all you need to do is chop them up before you throw them in the pan.
The crispy pancetta is optional, and you can leave it out if you want to keep this vegetarian! The risotto still has so much depth because of the chestnuts and brown butter, but the crispy pancetta does add a little extra luxury to the dish. If you didn’t want to use pancetta, but still wanted something extra on top you could substitute the pancetta for crispy sage which would be completely divine. Simply fry 4-5 fresh sage leaves in a couple of teaspoons of hot oil before removing from the pan.
Brown butter is an incredible flavour enhancer, adding a deep, rich nuttiness to any dish. Essentially what you do is melt butter in a pan, then keep heating it until brown flecks appear in the butter. This is the milk solids separating from the fat and then toasting on the bottom of the pan (this is what gives it the toasted nutty flavour). While this is happening water is also evaporating which is why you get a foam on top. This foam is also a good indication of when your butter is done. Initially it will be quite loud as the butter is foaming, and then after a few minutes the foam will go quiet and the bubbles in the foam will become smaller; this, along with the brown flecks, is a sign that your butter is browned!
This dish is also naturally gluten-free and can be made vegan by substituting the butter, pecorino and cream for dairy-free alternatives.
Ingredients
- 100g pancetta (optional)
- 20g Butter
- 1/2 White Onion, finely diced
- 1 tsp Vegetable Oil
- 2 Cloves of Garlic, finely chopped
- 75g Cooked Chestnuts, chopped into small pieces
- 85g Risotto Rice
- 75ml White Wine (if you want to keep this alcohol-free, just substitute for the same amount of water)
- 350ml Water
- 1/2 Vegetable Stock Cube
- 30g Pecorino, grated
- 1/4 tsp Fresh or Dried Thyme, finely chopped if fresh
- 30ml Double Cream
- If using pancetta add to a cold pan and place every medium high heat. Cook for around five minutes until the fat has rendered out and the pancetta is golden and crispy.
- Remove the pancetta from the pan and place to the side, then add the butter cook for another 5 or so minutes over a medium heat, until the butter has foamed up. After a few minutes the foam will reduce and the butter will go quiet. You will also start to notice brown flecks in the butter, this is a sign that your butter has brown.
- Add the onion to the pan along with the vegetable oil (the vegetable oil stops the butter from burning). Cook for 4-5 minutes until golden and soft then add in the garlic and cook for another minute.
- Add in the chestnuts and risotto rice and stir together before adding the wine. Cook for 3 minutes until the wine has reduced then add the vegetable stock cube and 100ml of the water.
- Stir frequently and don’t add the next 100 ml of water until the first has been fully absorbed.
- It will take around 15 to 18 minutes for the rice to absorb all of the liquid and to have almost finished cooking. At this point add in the pecorino, the thyme and the double cream and stir together.
- Keep stirring and ensure that the risotto is silky and not too thick (you can add a little more water to loosen if needed).
- Taste and season with salt and pepper. It shouldn’t need too much salt as the pancetta stock and pecorino are all salty.
- Serve up and top with the crispy pancetta and enjoy.
How it should look!
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Great present! Bought this for my sister who cooks for one. She absolutely loved it finding it inspiring! So many great recipes to motivate and keep you cooking when it's just you eating!
Great present! Bought this for my sister who cooks for one. She absolutely loved it finding it inspiring! So many great recipes to motivate and keep you cooking when it's just you
Follow Eleanor on socials and knew I NEEDED this book immediately! SO glad I paid extra and had it shipped from the UK (to US). Eleanor's voice is loud and clear in every recipe. The pictures are beautiful, the instructions are perfectly clear, and I want to make EVERYTHING. I cannot recommend this book enough!
This recipe book is stunning and fulfils its role brilliantly in catering for individuals who want to eat delicious meals, but don't want to prepare family sized portions or devote their entire evening to cooking. Who'd believe you could make an entire roast for one person and only use one pan in the process! She is a genius and I couldn't recommend this book any more highly.
One of the best things about the book is that all the recipes are actually cooked in one pot - in a lot of other so-called books you still have to make your side dish in a separate pot. With these recipes, even if they include rice or pasta, it's all cooked together. No mountains of washing up!
This is the book I've been waiting for! I (very happily!) live alone, love to cook and read cookery books, but every recipe is for two people or more. This gorgeous book contains recipes perfectly proportioned for one person (and I'm always a very hungry one person!) which ensures more variety, less food waste, and pure, gluttonous joy.
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This book is like having all your favourite foods in one place with the added bonus of an old friend showing you the ropes. Congratulations Eleanor when can I pre-order the next one?