I’ve been meaning to try my hand at risotto for quite some time now, but couldn’t make up my mind as to which version of it to try first. So to make things easier I made up my own version!
I give you a South African take on the classic Italian dish Risotto. Biltong and “soet patat” is as South African as it gets, the flavours really go well together and the textures play tricks with your mouth. My taste buds were really jumping all over the show with this one!
Lets get to it!
You will need:
- 1 cup Arborio rice (no, normal tastic white rice wont work, you need special risotto rice)
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 3 cups Duo of Sweet Potato puree
- a couple of cubes of sweet potatoe
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- some cinnamon
- some olive oil
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 3 cups water
- a dash of white wine
- some brown sugar
- some fresh sage leaves
- homemade sage brown butter sauce (optional)
- about 200gm biltong, not too dry, finely chopped up. Keep a few slices separate for garnish
- a handful of cashew nuts, roasted, not salted
- a couple of knobs of butter
- some finely grater parmesan
And heres how to go about it.
This is not the easiest dish to make, you need to keep your eye on it at all times, it can easily burn or overcook and turn to mush, which is not what you want. So keep your focus and you will be rewarded!
First off, we need to get the stock ready. I used shop bought chicken stock for this, but homemade will obviously be better. Add the 3 cups liquid chicken stock , 3 cups water and 1 cup of the Duo of Sweet Potato puree to a pot and bring to a boil.
You don’t want the stock to be too strong, which is why I use half stock and half water. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Keep this on a simmer and have a soup ladle handy.
From here on out I’ll refer to the above mixture as “the cooking liquid”.
Risotto is all about timing and focus, you need to prepare everything you can beforehand because once the rice goes in you can’t really stop stirring for more than a few seconds. Bear that in mind and prepare all you need and lay it out next to the stove to avoid troubles halfway through.
Ok before we start with the rice, take the cubed sweet potato and place in an ovenproof dish, season with some salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil, pop in a knob of butter and sprinkle some cinnamon over it. Put that in the oven at 180 degress celcius and check on it every 15 minutes or so, stir it every now and then so the cubes stay coated.
Ok now we can start with the main show! Heat up a large pan to medium high heat and add some olive oil. Fry the diced onion until translucent, and add a knob of butter.
Then add the cup of rice, remember as soon as the rice starts absorbing liquid and cooking, it will release starch which would love to burn to the bottom of the pan. You have to stir this pretty much non stop.
Stir that well so you coat the rice with the butter. If at any time you feel the mix is going to burn, lift up the pan and add some cooking liquid.
The idea behind risotto is that you add cooking liquid one ladle at a time. The rice will absorb the liquid as it cooks and release starch, which will make for a creamy texture to the dish. You do not want to add too much liquid because then you may end up having to overcook the rice in order to get the liquid absorbed, so stick to the rules, one ladle at a time!.
Ok so once you have coated the rice, it will probably absorb all the butter and the pan will be dry, first off deglaze the pan with a dash of white wine.
Stir that around till the wine is absorbed then add a ladle of cooking liquid.
Stir and wait till it gets absorbed. You will notice the mixture starting to get creamy. That is the consistency you want to keep. So you add a ladle of liquid, it will get runny, you keep stirring till it gets creamy again and so you go on and on till the rice is cooked. Boring business but worth it!
After the first ladle of liquid has been absorbed, add 2 cups of Duo of Sweet Potato puree and stir in. Add a ladle of cooking liquid in with it.
Once that has been absorbed, add a handful of finely chopped biltong (not just sliced, chopped up as well)
Also at this stage, get the dish with the diced sweet potato out of the oven. Sprinkle about two tablespoons of brown sugar over the cubes and return to the oven, switch the oven to grill mode. Keep and eye on these babies so they don’t burn.
Ok back to the rice!
After the next ladle of liquid, add a handful of roasted cashew nuts
Keep repeating the “one ladle of liquid and absorb” process until you can bite through the rice without feeling any crunchy bits, that means the rice is done, similar to “al dente” pasta. Remove from heat immediately, you do not want to overcook the rice, it will become all mushy and horrible.
By now your sweet potato cubes should be done, you should be able to press through them with a spoon and the should look something like this
Ok now its time to plate this beauty! I do it in layers. Take a normal dinner plate, put about one and a half ladle of the rice mixture in the middle of the plate and shake the plate around a bit so it spreads out. Sprinkle some finely grated parmesan over this, it will melt immediately.
Next chuck in some sliced biltong and fresh sage leaves. Drizzle some Sage Brown Butter Sauce over it (optional I will post a how-to on making this stuff at a later stage)
Next add the sweet potato cubes, grate some more parmesan over it and serve!
This really was a taste sensation. The sweetness of the cubes with the saltiness of the biltong. The creaminess of the risotto with the crunch of the cashews and then the sage just adding some intriguing flavors to the mix, I am really happy with this dish!
I hope you give it a try, if you do, let me know how it goes!
Will definitely try this in te near furture, have been looking for a risotto dish with a twist for some time, thanks
Great! Let me know how it goes!
Trying this tonight! Will let you know how it goes and might take a few pictures too.
Peace
Great! Good luck!
Hi Fritz,
I made your risotto last night. The flavours were amazing, however I don’t think I cooked the sweet potatoes for long enough before i pureed them and, as a result, the risotto was not as creamy as I would have like it. Great flavour combinations though. Will keep an eye on your blog. All the best!
Patrick
Hi Patrick
Great! So glad you gave me some feedback! That’s the whole point of the blog, I want people to cook the dishes and comment so we can make them better for the next guy! Yea I can imagine that it would be a bit gritty if not cooked long enough. I will update the post on making the puree, thanks for the feedback and the compliments!
Cheers man
This looks delicious. I love the unusual combination of sweet potato and biltong!
Thanks so much Candice. I was trying to create something with a South African twist, it worked out great in the end, the sage brown butter sauce really kicked it up a notch too!
Jy is n ster!!