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This recipe for Sweet Corn Garlic Risotto is a great recipe to make in the summer when you have sweet corn from the garden or Farmer’s Market. Creamy risotto with kernels of sweet corn and tangy garlic. Pair with grilled pork or chicken for a delicious meal.
What is Risotto?
Risotto is a creamy Italian dish that often has one or two other vegetables in it, or even meat. See my recipe for Garlic Bean Risotto with Brisket Here.
Unlike other rice dishes that simmer in a pot of water, Risotto cooks in a small amount of water or broth that is ladled over the rice during a 25-30 minute timeframe. It is often finished by adding butter and freshly grated Parmesan, in a final step that is called mantecare. In Italian, it simply means to stir in butter and Parmesan.
“Mantecare…is the final and best touch, bestowing on your risotto a creamy consistency of great opulence.” Marcella Hazen from her cookbook Marcella Cucina. I highly recommend reading Marcella’s cookbooks to see what she has to say about cooking risotto. See one of my favorite Cookbooks Here.
One of the key ingredients for making Risotto is the type of rice used, which in my case is Arborio Rice, a short-grain rice that is short, fat, and oval shaped, used primarily for making risotto. Once only grown in Italy, it apparently is now being grown in the U.S. in California and Texas. I had never seen this rice in the grocery stores until just a few years ago, but can now find it in our rural area. Or you may purchase it on Amazon.
Ingredients for Sweet Corn Garlic Risotto
(See the full recipe at the bottom of this post.)
Instructions for Making This Recipe
Gather the ingredients so you have everything close at hand on the counter or table.
Prepare the Ingredients
If necessary, shuck and silk the garden sweet corn. Using a knife and cutting board, cut the kernels from the corn cob, being careful not to cut too deep into the cob.
I like to use a large shallow bowl to cut the corn in to minimize any sticky mess.
Dice the sweet onion and green bell pepper into small bits. Mince the garlic.
In a medium saucepan, bring to a boil the water and bouillon cubes (or chicken broth), and then reduce to a simmer, stirring to combine.
You will keep the broth on simmer for the entire process of making this dish.
Sauté the Vegetables
In a large skillet or sauté pan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter along with the extra-virgin olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the cut corn and green bell pepper. Season with smoked paprika, kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Cook until the vegetables are crisp tender, stirring frequently, about 3-4 minutes.
Remove the vegetables from the pan and place in a bowl for use later.
Make the Soffritto
In the same pan, melt another 2 tablespoons of butter over medium-low heat. Add the minced onion and cook until tender, about 1-2 minutes, stirring often. Add to this the garlic and cook for about a minute more, being careful not to let it brown.
Italian cooks refer to this base step of sauteing onion and garlic to a dish as soffritto, the initial steps to give a dish its greatest flavor, upon which you build.
Add the Rice
Once the onion and garlic are tender, add the Arborio rice and cook on medium-low, stirring constantly until glossy and coated with oil, about 2 minutes. Make sure to stir to the edges of your pan to include every grain of rice.
When making Risotto, I like to use my wooden spurtle, which has a flat edge and reaches easily into the “corners” of a pan.
Now add the wine to the rice and stir until the alcohol is absorbed, about 1 minute.
When choosing a wine to use for this recipe, go with a dry white wine, and always use a wine that you enjoy drinking. If you are opposed to cooking with wine, simply omit this step, although it does give the dish wonderful flavor.
Begin ladling in the chicken broth, about a cup at a time. Stir frequently until it is absorbed.
Frequent stirring dissolves the starch in the rice and produces the creaminess in Risotto. Once the broth is added to the rice, begin stirring, scraping the spurtle along the bottom and sides of the pan until the liquid has absorbed. Then repeat.
Continue adding broth in this fashion until the rice has cooked to al dente and is creamy, approximately 20-25 minutes. Add broth, stir, cook, stir, and repeat. When you get close to al dente, you’ll want to reduce the amount of broth you add each time.
I like to start tasting the rice after 20 minutes to see how it is doing. For al dente, you want the rice to be tender, but firm to the bite. When it gets close to this stage, you will gradually reduce the amount of broth you add. Your finished risotto should be slightly moist, but not runny. You may or may not use up all the chicken broth.
Once you’ve achieved al dente, stir in the prepared vegetables and remove from heat.
Final Steps – Mantecare
For the finishing touch, add the remaining butter and freshly grated Parmesan. Swirl vigorously to combine. Taste and add more kosher salt or freshly ground black pepper, if desired. Add fresh basil to the dish for garnish.
If the risotto is too thick, you may thin it with a little bit of whole milk. I have never had to do this, but please know that it is okay to do if you need to!
This recipe will serve 4-6 people. You may store leftovers in the refrigerator and reheat in the microwave as desired. I will often enjoy leftovers for lunch the next day. Our youngest grandson loves it.
Recommended Wine for this Dish – Chardonnay, Riesling, Prosecco, or Pinot Gris.
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Sweet Corn Garlic Risotto
(As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.)
Ingredients
- 6 cubes chicken bouillon + 6 cups water (or chicken broth)
- 6 tablespoons butter (divided)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 ears sweet corn (cut off cob (approximately 1 1/2 cups))
- 1 cup sweet onion (diced)
- 1/4 cup green bell pepper (diced)
- 3 tablespoons garlic (minced)
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (grated)
- fresh basil (for garnish)
Instructions
- Gather the ingredients so you have everything close at hand on the counter or table.
Prepare the Ingredients
- If necessary, shuck and silk the garden sweet corn. Using a knife and cutting board (or large shallow bowl), cut the kernels from the corn cob, being careful not to cut too deep into the cob.
- Dice the sweet onion and green bell pepper into small bits. Mince the garlic.
- In a medium saucepan, bring to a boil the water and bouillon cubes (or chicken broth), and then reduce to a simmer, stirring to combine. You will keep the broth on simmer for the entire process of making this dish.
Saute the Vegetables
- In a large skillet or sauté pan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter along with the extra-virgin olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the cut corn and green bell pepper. Season with smoked paprika, kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Cook until the vegetables are crisp tender, stirring frequently, about 3-4 minutes.
- Remove the vegetables from the pan and place in a bowl for use later.
Make the Soffritto
- In the same pan, melt another 2 tablespoons of butter over medium-low heat. Add the minced onion and cook until tender, about 1-2 minutes, stirring often. Add to this the garlic and cook for about a minute more, being careful not to let it brown.
Add the Rice
- Once the onion and garlic are tender, add the Arborio rice and cook on medium-low, stirring constantly until glossy and coated with oil, about 2 minutes. Make sure to stir to the edges of your pan to include every grain of rice.
- (When making Risotto, I like to use my wooden spurtle, which has a flat edge and reaches easily into the “corners” of a pan.)
- Now add the white wine to the rice and stir until the alcohol is absorbed, about 1 minute.
- When choosing a wine to use for this recipe, go with a dry white wine, and always use a wine that you enjoy drinking. If you are opposed to cooking with wine, simply omit this step, although it does give the dish wonderful flavor.
- Begin ladling in the chicken broth, about a cup at a time. Stir frequently until it is absorbed.
- (Frequent stirring dissolves the starch in the rice and produces the creaminess in Risotto. Once the broth is added to the rice, begin stirring, scraping the spurtle along the bottom and sides of the pan until the liquid has absorbed. Then repeat.)
- Continue adding broth in this fashion until the rice has cooked to al dente and is creamy, approximately 20-25 minutes. Add broth, stir, cook, stir, and repeat. When you get close to al dente, you’ll want to reduce the amount of broth you add each time.
- I like to start tasting the rice after 20 minutes to see how it is doing. For al dente, you want the rice to be tender, but firm to the bite. When it gets close to this stage, you will gradually reduce the amount of broth you add. Your finished risotto should be slightly moist, but not runny. You may or may not use up all the chicken broth.
- Once you’ve achieved al dente, stir in the prepared vegetables and remove from heat.
Final Steps – Mantecare
- For the finishing touch, add the remaining butter and freshly grated Parmesan. Swirl vigorously to combine. Taste and add more kosher salt or freshly ground black pepper, if desired. Add fresh basil to the dish for garnish.
- If the risotto is too thick, you may thin it with a little bit of whole milk. I have never had to do this, but please know that it is okay to do if you need to!
- This recipe will serve 4-6 people.
Thanks for reading this recipe. I hope you will enjoy it as much as our family does!