Idiosyncratic Tuna Risotto

OH FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE EDITING TO ACTUALLY TELL YOU WHEN TO ADD THE TUNA SHEESH

My last entry has produced three requests for the recipe for tuna risotto I mentioned. I'm assuming that people want the modified version. If you wanted the original, let me know.

Risotto purists should proceed with caution. Risotto is really about the rice, wine, and stock, with some bits of flavor scattered around to decorate it. The recipe below is the result of cramming vegetables and protein into the original recipe until I can eat a reasonable amount without sending my blood sugar into the stratosphere.

IDIOSYNCRATIC TUNA RISOTTO

• 3 5-ounce cans, water-packed light (not albacore) tuna (I've used albacore when that was what I had.)
• 5 cups chicken or vegetable broth (I used Better Than Bouillon No Chicken.)
• 2 to 4 garlic cloves (to taste), minced
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons minced flat-leaf parsley
• 1 ½ cup minced onion
• 1 (14-ounce) can tomatoes
• 1 ½ cups Arborio rice
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• ½ cup dry white wine, such as Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc (I only had Moscata, and I used it. Maybe don't be me.)
  
• Generous pinch of saffron
• 2 red bell peppers, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 8 oz mushrooms, sliced or quartered, depending on size -- nice fat pieces are pleasant
• 1 12-oz bag of steam-in-the-bag frozen green beans (Or use some fresh ones if you like, in which case I think I'd put them in with the onions.)
  

1. Bring the broth to a simmer in a saucepan and leave it on low heat, or put it in the microwave and heat it just short of boiling if you prefer.
2. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large nonstick frying pan or wide saucepan and add the onion. Cook, stirring, until tender, about 5 minutes, and add the garlic. Saute for about a minute, until the garlic is fragrant. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring, til they start to brown. Add the bell peppers and saute briefly. Add the tomatoes with their juice. Cook, stirring, until the tomatoes have cooked down a little, 5 to 10 minutes.
3. Add the tuna and stir it all around.
4. Put the bag of frozen green beans in the microwave and follow the directions minus one minute. Let it sit. Don't worry, I won't let you forget about the green beans.
5. Add the rice to the pan and cook, stirring, until the grains of rice are separate and well coated with the tomato mixture, 2 to 3 minutes.
6. Stir in the wine and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly. You want a slow simmer here.
7. When the wine has just about evaporated, crumble up the saffron and put it in, with a half-cup or so of the hot broth, enough to just cover the rice. The stock should bubble slowly. Cook, stirring often and vigorously, until it is just about absorbed. Add another dollop of broth, adding more when the rice is almost dry, for 20 to 25 minutes. Taste a bit of the rice. It should taste chewy but not hard in the middle. If it is still hard in the middle, you need to keep adding broth and cook for another 5 minutes or so. Taste and adjust salt.
8. When the rice is cooked al dente, stir in the tuna mixture. Open up the bag of green beans -- CAREFULLY -- and stir them in too. Add another dollop or two of broth. If you like black pepper, grind some generously over the rice mixture, or put in a quarter to a half-teaspoon of regular ground black pepper. Add the minced parsley.  Stir for a couple of minutes, taste and adjust seasonings. The mixture should be creamy. Add a little more broth if it isn't, or shrug and don't worry.

 

 

The first time that I made this, the rice completely failed the test in steps 7 and 8, but the dish was still delicious. The second time I got it right.

You may not need all the broth; it depends on how much liquid the vegetables produce. The original recipe calls for seven cups of broth but wants you to drain the tomatoes, which seemed wasteful to me, so I reduced the broth and still had a bit too much.

I hope this works for you, and that you enjoy it even if it is not cooperative.

Pamela