Rice porridge with apples, sweet and aromatic, cooked by my mother for breakfast, always cheered me up, even if I had to get up very early. Imagine my surprise when I learned that Italian mothers also cook porridge with apples for their children, but they call it Risotto alle Melle.
Rice porridge with apples, sweet and aromatic, cooked by my mother for breakfast, always cheered me up, even if I had to get up very early. Imagine my surprise when I learned that Italian mothers also cook porridge with apples for their children, but they call it Risotto alle Melle.- Prep time: 10 minutes + 1 hour’s cooking apple stock
- Cook time: 25-30 minutes
- Serves: 4-6
- Difficulty: easy
- Course: pasta & risotto
- Cookware: copper saucepan, wooden spoon
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 320 g risotto rice
- 400 g dried apples
- 2 litre water
- 2 green apples, cored, peeled and diced
- 2 green bell peppers, seeded and diced
- 100 g fennel, peeled and diced
- 100 g celery stick, finely chopped
- 30 g golden raisins
- 100 g butter
- 50 ml semi-dry white wine
- 1 tbsp sugar
For decorating:
- 1 fresh mint sprig
- 30 g walnuts, coarsely chopped
- 50 g dorblu, or other soft blue cheese, cut into cubes
Cooking method
Step 1
Pour 2 litres water in a saucepan, bring to boil and add dried apples. Simmer for about 1 hour. Strain the apple stock and set aside. We don’t need fruits, just the stock.
Step 2
Heat oven to 160˚С. Put half of the chopped apples on parchment paper, sprinkle with sugar and bake in the oven for 3-5 minutes. Transfer from oven and set aside.
Step 3
Put a saucepan with apple stock on low heat so that it constantly simmers. Melt half of the butter in a separate saucepan over low heat. Add the other half of the apples, celery, bell pepper, fennel and slightly fry them. Add rice. Stir constantly and fry until the rice becomes transparent.
Step 4
Increase heat to medium. Pour the white wine into a saucepan with rice and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spatula or spoon, until the wine is completely absorbed by the rice. Stir in the apple stock, ladle by ladle, so that each time it covers the rice completely. Constantly stirring, wait for each addition to absorb before adding the next. When about half of the apple stock remains, add the raisins. Continue cooking the risotto in the same way until the apple stock is completely absorbed. The rice should be al dente when cooked. Remove risotto from heat, add baked apples and stir.
Step 5
Put the risotto on plates. Garnish each risotto with cheese, nuts, mint and serve immediately.
My tips and tricks:
You can easily turn this risotto into your favourite children’s breakfast. To do this, exclude wine, green bell peppers, fennel, and celery from the ingredients, children usually wrinkle their noses when they see them. Sprinkle the cooked risotto with cinnamon mixed with sugar before serving. And walnuts and cheese, which are now not useful for your recipe, will be a great addition to a glass of white wine for you 🙂
- 320 g risotto rice
- 400 g dried apples
- 2 litre water
- 2 green apples, cored, peeled and diced
- 2 green bell peppers, seeded and diced
- 100 g fennel, peeled and diced
- 100 g celery stick, finely chopped
- 30 g golden raisins
- 100 g butter
- 50 ml semi-dry white wine
- 1 tbsp sugar
- For decorating:
- 1 fresh mint sprig
- 30 g walnuts, coarsely chopped
- 50 g dorblu, or other soft blue cheese, cut into cubes
- Pour 2 litres water in a saucepan, bring to boil and add dried apples. Simmer for about 1 hour. Strain the apple stock and set aside. We don't need fruits, just the stock.
- Heat oven to 160˚С. Put half of the chopped apples on parchment paper, sprinkle with sugar and bake in the oven for 3-5 minutes. Transfer from oven and set aside.
- Put a saucepan with apple stock on low heat so that it constantly simmers. Melt half of the butter in a separate saucepan over low heat. Add the other half of the apples, celery, bell pepper, fennel and slightly fry them. Add rice. Stir constantly and fry until the rice becomes transparent.
- Increase heat to medium. Pour the white wine into a saucepan with rice and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spatula or spoon, until the wine is completely absorbed by the rice. Stir in the apple stock, ladle by ladle, so that each time it covers the rice completely. Constantly stirring, wait for each addition to absorb before adding the next. When about half of the apple stock remains, add the raisins. Continue cooking the risotto in the same way until the apple stock is completely absorbed. The rice should be al dente when cooked. Remove risotto from heat, add baked apples and stir.
- Put the risotto on plates. Garnish each risotto with cheese, nuts, mint and serve immediately.