Short grain rice is the secret to a creamy risotto.
After three weeks in beautiful Colorado I am finally home and back in my own kitchen again! Yay! I had some kohlrabi that needed to be used quickly or consigned to the compost heap, so I went exploring and I found this recipe for kohlrabi risotto from the New York Times (see An Introduction to Kohlrabi if you aren’t familiar with this fabulous low oxalate veggie). I was intrigued, but a few things bothered me about the NYT recipe. One tablespoon of olive oil is barely enough to cook the onions and kohlrabi, let alone leave enough left over to coat the rice (an important step in cooking short grain rice varieties). Most risotto chefs use 3 or 4 tablespoons of oil (or butter) to sweat their onions and coat their rice. Also, risottos traditionally use more wine and include more oil or butter added at the end of cooking. If you want to try a lighter version, give the NYT recipe a shot. It is low oxalate and probably delicious. Here’s my modified version which I thought was FANTASTIC! Who knew kohlrabi could taste so comforting? I loved this kohlrabi risotto and couldn’t stop eating it. One of my sons loved it, too, although the other one picked out all of the kohlrabi.
If you’ve never made risotto or worked with short grain rice and you’re feeling a little nervous about trying this recipe, you may want to check out this cheesy, but fun, and very informative Alton Brown video about cooking short grain rice. Alton knows a lot about food chemistry and what makes recipes work. I love his cookbook and his show, and have learned a lot about cooking from him.
Kohlrabi Risotto
4 cups kohlrabi
7 cups LO chicken or vegetable broth or stock (homemade or Swanson’s 100% natural)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or butter
1/2 cup minced onion
1 1/2 cups short grain white rice, such as arborio (medium grain is okay, but do not use long grain rice!)
1 to 2 garlic cloves, minced
Salt to taste (may not be needed if you use a commercial chicken broth)
1 cup dry white wine, like pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc
1 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg (optional)
1 tablespoon butter (optional)
1. Peel the kohlrabi, making sure to remove the white, fibrous layer just under the skin (i.e. double peel the kohlrabi), and cut into 1/2-inch dice.
2. Put your stock or broth into a saucepan and bring it to a simmer over medium heat, with a ladle nearby or in the pot. Turn the heat down to low. I personally like a rich, homemade meat broths for risotto, although homemade vegetable broth and Swanson’s 100% natural chicken broth are okay. If your broth tastes a little weak you may want to add more onions, garlic or pepper (none of these ingredients will substantially raise the oxalate level of this dish, so don’t be shy about adding them if you need to).
3. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a wide, heavy saucepan or a heavy dutch oven. (It should have heavy sides, too, not just a heavy bottom.) Add the onion and cook gently (sweat) until the onion is just tender, about 2-3 minutes. Do not brown the onion. Add the diced kohlrabi and the garlic and cook, stirring, until the kohlrabi is crisp-tender, about 5 – 10 minutes. I prefer my kohlrabi on the tender side, as opposed to the crisp side, for this dish.
4. Add the rice and stir until the grains separate and begin to crackle. This won’t happen if you skimp on the oil. In fact, you may need to add more oil if your onions seemed to have soaked up most of the oil. Add the wine and stir until it has evaporated and been absorbed by the rice. Add the simmering stock, a couple of ladlefuls (about 1/2 cup) at a time. The stock should just cover the rice, and should be gently bubbling. Cook, stirring often, until the stock is just about absorbed. You can tell it’s absorbed and you’re ready for another ladleful when you stir the rice and the dry bottom of the pot shows for a moment behind the spoon. If its not ready, you won’t see the bottom of the pot, just stock. Add another ladleful or two of stock and continue to cook, adding more stock and stirring each time the rice has just about absorbed the stock and you start seeing the bottom of the pan. Note: you do not have to stir constantly, but do stir often. When the rice is tender all the way through but still chewy, in about 25 minutes (give or take five minutes), it is done. You probably used about 6 cups of stock to get to this point but may have used all 7. Add the pepper and adjust salt to taste.
5. Add another ladleful of stock to the rice (add a half cup water if you are out of stock). Stir in the Parmesan, the nutmeg if using, and the butter and remove from the heat. The mixture should be creamy (add more stock if it isn’t). Serve right away in wide soup bowls or on plates, spreading the risotto in a thin layer rather than a mound.
Yield: Makes 6 large servings or 10 side dish servings.
Low Oxalate Info: All ingredients in kohlrabi risotto are low oxalate. Oxalate per serving will depend on the variety of rice, type of broth, and optional ingredients you choose). A large main dish serving has about 6 mg. oxalate per serving (based on 6 servings per recipe using the nutmeg, arborio rice and zero oxalate homemade chicken broth), while a smaller side dish serving has about 3.6 mg. oxalate (based on 10 servings per recipe using nutmeg, arborio rice and zero oxalate homemade chicken broth).
Other Diets: Kohlrabi risotto may also be appropriate for gluten-free and vegetarian diets.
Photo credit goes to Breahn for risotto.
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