Coconut Curry Risotto with Crispy Salmon

I find it very fitting that it appears a giant pumpkin exploded all over today’s Coconut Curry Risotto with Crispy Salmon, seeing as it’s the week after the unofficial end of summer.

While it isn’t officially fall until the calendar strikes September 22nd, with Labor Day in the past, I’m deeming it appropriate to slowly dip our toes into the foods that make us all warm and cozy inside. Even though the thermostat still currently reads 75 and sunny.

Risotto is one of those dishes that just feels good to eat this time of year. It’s warm, creamy, and comforting — all attributes that equate to a killer fall food. It’s also a dish a lot of people seem intimidated by, and rightfully so. The way most people talk about it insinuates the time, effort, and skill used to pull it off isn’t worth it. Luckily, I’ve found this to be categorically false, because if my ten-year-old self can do it, so can you.

I wish I could say that I remember the first time I made risotto with astute accuracy, but it’s blurry, at best. All I remember, is that according to Martha Stewart, I needed aborio rice, and by gosh, I was going to get that rice. Back then (22 years ago, but who’s counting??), aborio rice wasn’t nearly as readily available as it is now, so tracking it down was a challenge, well that, and the fact that I didn’t have a driver’s license. Lucky for me, my Mom was well-versed in all things food, and happily provided it for me.

I have flashes of standing over my Mom’s hot Viking stove, relentlessly stirring a pot of aborio rice that never seemed to cook. I couldn’t understand why it was taking so long, and as I was getting increasingly more frustrated, I had a epiphany — adding cold or room temperature broth to something hot will inevitably bring the temperature of the entire dish down, which will in turn, slow the cooking process down and create a mushy risotto.

Problem solved.

I’ve been able to make killer risotto dozens of times since then, and now I’m going to share my wisdom with you.

How to make perfect risotto:

1.) Always use hot liquid! I like to keep a pot of simmering chicken stock to the side when I’m making risotto and then I just use a ladle to transfer small amounts of the stock to the rice.

2.) Season as you go! Don’t wait until the end to season your risotto. Taste as you go. If you think it needs salt, add it!

3.) Keep an eye on it! It’s a myth that you need to constantly stir your risotto. Yes, you need to do it frequently, but you can tend to other things while it cooks, just make sure to keep an eye on it, you never want the rice to stick to the bottom of the pan.

4.) It’s done before you think it’s done! Classic risotto is creamy and soft on the outside, but has a slight bite to it on the inside, much like aldente pasta, so don’t overcook it!

The great thing about risotto, is it’s basically a blank canvas, so changing the flavor profile is easily done. Of course when we think of variations on risotto, they almost always come back to their Italian roots, but I thought it would be fun to put a different type of spin on it this time, and the additions of red curry paste and coconut milk were the first things that came to mind.

Surprisingly the flavors are rather subtle, but delicious and such a nice departure from the classic preparation. We’re big into salmon these days, so I topped it with a buttery portion of crispy Atlantic Salmon – sautéed shrimp, grilled chicken or even lobster would also be a wonderful compliment.