Difficulty: easy
Method: 10
Cooking: 30
Difficulty: easy
Method: 10
Cooking: 30
Wash and peel the pears
Remove the core
Cut them into dices of about 1 cm
Melt the butter in a frying pan over a low heat
Add the pears and cook for 5 minutes over a moderate flame
Turn off the heat when they are golden brown but soft
Finely chop the onion
Put the onion in a saucepan with extra virgin olive oil over moderate heat
Cook for about 5 minutes until the onion wilts, it should not brown
Add the rice to the fried mixture
Turn the rice for a couple of minutes until toasted without changing colour – it should be very hot when touched with the back of the hand
Add the white wine and let it evaporate
Add the boiling broth, the rice must always be covered with liquid
Cook, stirring occasionally, adding a little stock at a time when necessary
Remove from the heat after about 18 minutes
Add the cooked pears
Add the blue cheese, the Parmesan cheese and cold butter
Hold the handle of the saucepan and move it vigorously back and forth to mix the ingredients
Add salt and pepper to taste
Arrange the risotto on serving plates
If you choose a sweet blue cheese, serve the risotto with a fragrant and persistent white wine like a South Tyrolean Gewurztraminer or a smooth white wine like a Riesling.
Instead, for a spicy blue cheese, pairing with a structured and aged red wine is a good choice: in this case Barolo, Brunello di Montalcino and Amarone della Valpolicella are perfect.
Risotto should be prepared and served there and then, but you can prepare the stock in advance.
Another very useful tip is to replace the fried onion or shallot with a flavoured oil you can prepare in advance and use for other recipes too. Chop the onion/shallot, put it in a saucepan and cover it completely with extra virgin olive oil. Cook it on a low flame or in the microwave until the onion/shallot is transparent. Leave to infuse and cool, filter and store the flavoured oil covered in the fridge.
The onion must not brown in the frying pan.
The rice must not change colour during the toasting process to seal the rice grain and allow it to release the right amount of starch when needed.
From mid-cooking onwards, the stock should only be added as necessary, as it is absorbed, so as not to end up with a risotto with too much broth.
The final mixing phase must be done with the heat off, using cold butter and Parmesan cheese to obtain a creamy risotto.
Do not choose pears that are too ripe and soft, they could disintegrate while cooking.
If you have leftover pear and blue cheese risotto, store it in the fridge up to a couple of days. When using it, spread it on a buttered baking tray, sprinkle with some Parmesan cheese and butter flakes, then bake it au gratin in the oven at 190°C.
The most suitable rice qualities for a creamy risotto are Carnaroli, Roma, Arborio and Vialone Nano.
In the traditional recipe, the rice was sautéed with the butter, about 25 grams, and onion. Nowadays butter is replaced more and more with extra virgin olive oil.
Replace the vegetable stock with meat stock if you wish but it should be without salt and used hot.
In Italy it is said that a successful risotto must be “all’onda“: this means that it must be thick and creamy enough to allow creating a wave in the saucepan with a sharp blow with your wrist during the final mixing phase.
Use the pears you prefer, as long as they are ripe but hard.
You can use any type of blue cheese you like; if you opt for sweet blue cheese, bear in mind that, in addition to the difference in taste, it is softer and creamier than spicy blue cheese.
320 g carnaroli rice
60 g of onions
25 g of butter for the sauté
40 g of butter for the creaming
60 ml white wine
1 lt di vegetable stock
120 g sweet blue cheese
30 g grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper
For the pears
200 g of pears
20 g butter
If you choose a sweet blue cheese, serve the risotto with a fragrant and persistent white wine like a South Tyrolean Gewurztraminer or a smooth white wine like a Riesling.
Instead, for a spicy blue cheese, pairing with a structured and aged red wine is a good choice: in this case Barolo, Brunello di Montalcino and Amarone della Valpolicella are perfect.
