Risotto is a very delicious Italian dish that is made up of rice. This rice dish is prepared with broth and cooked till it attains a creamy texture. This broth can be attained from anything like vegetables, fish, and meat.

One of the famous ways of making risotto is cooking it slowly with fish stock to attain the creamy texture, and the dish is named salmon risotto. Salmon risotto is very easy to make, and its cooking time is generally 30-40 minutes.

1. How To Make Salmon Risotto?

Let us explore the recipes to prepare the delicious and mouth-watering salmon risotto.

1.1. The Classic Salmon Risotto Recipe

1.1.1. Ingredients

The ingredients required for this recipe are finely chopped onion, garlic, butter, arborio rice, stock (chicken stock, vegetable stock, or fish stock), fresh peas, broccoli, Scottish salmon fillets, salt and pepper, lemon slices, and parmesan cheese. The cooking time for this recipe is around 30 minutes.

1.1.2. Cook The Risotto

1. The first step is to put some butter in a heated non-stick pan and add onion and garlic to it. You need to cook them till the onion gets soft.
2. The next step is to add risotto rice, but add it after the onion is cooked. Keep stirring after adding rice.
3. Then add stock slowly (ladleful at a time) and keep beating it until the whole dish turns creamy and thick which makes for your risotto base. It will take around 20 minutes.
4. Once the risotto base is ready, the next step is to add steamed or boiled peas, broccoli, and salmon to it.

So, to tender the peas and broccoli, boil the water in a pan and put the peas and broccoli into the boiled water. You have to soften them, so cook them for 5 minutes. You can now add the peas and broccoli to the risotto base and let it cook for some time.

1.1.3. Salmon Cooking

To cook the salmon, place some lemon slices on the surface of a large pan; you have carefully placed the salmon on top of it and season it with pepper. Add the boiling water; the amount should be enough to dip the lower surface salmon slices. After that, you have to cover the pan’s lid and let the salmon cook.

Once the salmon is cooked completely, remove it from the pan and put it into plates carefully. The salmon will be easily flaked.

Add the flaked salmon cubes to the risotto, top with grated parmesan cheese and cook it on medium flame. After some minutes, your salmon risotto is ready to serve. Finish cooking and serve it in bowls, and enjoy your hard work. It is an easy risotto recipe that you will surely love to try.

Please Note

The Scottish salmon fish used is good quality fish and has health benefits. The health benefits include the prevention of heart disease, good memory and prevention of depression. It has good nutritional value as it provides vitamin D.

2. Other Salmon Risotto Recipes

There are many ways to cook this risotto. After knowing the different recipes, you will find out it is not as tough a task as many people think.

2.1. Seared Salmon Risotto

A seared salmon risotto recipe is the first way to have mouth-watering and restaurant-like salmon risotto. The result of this recipe is salmon served with creamy risotto rice at the base.

2.1.1. Pan Searing the Salmon

To begin with, we need to pan-sear the salmon and cook the salmon till the outer layer turns brown and the inner part remains soft. The pan sears the salmon, so it is better to use a non-stick pan and apply the oil and some salt and pepper on the salmon.

The special tip for shearing the salmon is that you should remove the salmon from the refrigerator at normal temperature, and shearing becomes easier as the salmon will stick less to the pan. The cooking time will also be reduced.

2.1.2. Preparing The Risotto

The best dish to serve with the salmon is the lemon ris0tto. So, the next task is to prepare a creamy rice dish, lemon risotto.

The few necessary things you need to prepare the lemon risotto are a pan with a lid, arborio rice, onions, garlic, olive oil, wine, broth, or stock.

The first step is to cook the finely chopped onions and garlic in olive oil till they are soft, but it is better not to let them change colour. Once the onions are soft, the next step is to add arborio rice and cook it well in the oil and onion mixture.

Once the rice is cooked, add wine and wait till it evaporates. Once the wine evaporates, add the stock slowly with constant stirring. It is important that every single rice is cooked evenly, and while adding the stock, keep stirring the rice. The starch released by rice makes the risotto creamy.

Once you are done with adding the broth, check for the chalky texture of each grain. You can add more stock to remove the chalkiness of the rice.

The next step is to add lemon juice and lemon zest to the rice. It will give risotto rice a fine, lemony taste. Add the lemon juice and zest slowly and beat until you get creamy risotto. This lemony and creamy risotto sounds exciting. Let the lemon risotto settle down for some time, and serve it with cooked salmon.

2.3. Salmon and Pea Risotto

The main ingredients for this recipe are risotto or arborio rice, onion, garlic, white wine, stock (chicken stock or fish stock), frozen peas, salmon, and parmesan cheese. The uniqueness of this salmon risotto recipe is that you don’t need to constantly stir.

The process is almost similar to previous ones. Heat the butter in a pan. Add onions in melted butter. Once onions are cooked, add garlic and let it cook for a minute. The next step is to add the risotto rice.

Cook the rice until each grain turns glossy. Then start adding white wine and wait till it evaporates. Once the white wine evaporates, start adding stock. After that, add lemon juice and lemon zest. You can also add the seasoning (salt and pepper).

Now, it’s time to reduce the heat, gently stir and give the ingredients time to cook on low heat. Twenty minutes is the approximate cooking time.

Meanwhile, let us cook the salmon, pour some stock in the pan, and put salmon fillets. Poach the salmon fillets. Now, turn your attention to lemon risotto; as rice is just undercooked, add frozen peas to it.

Keep cooking it till the rice is fully cooked. Once the rice is cooked, add chopped parsley and half the butter. Top it with grated parmesan cheese.

The next step is to add salmon. You can break it before adding it. Season it with the spices like salt and pepper. Your lemon flavour salmon risotto is ready to serve immediately. You can always store leftovers.

2.4. Smoked Salmon Risotto

The main ingredients for this recipe are finely chopped onion, olive oil, risotto rice (Arborio rice), finely chopped garlic cloves, boiling vegetable stock, packed smoked salmon, mascarpone lite, chopped parsley grated lemon zest and squeezed lemon juice.

2.4.1. Preparing The Risotto

For five minutes, fry the onion in the oil. Garlic and rice are added, and the mixture is then continually stirred for 2 minutes.

Set the timer for 20 minutes and pour in a third of the stock. Add half of the remaining stock and continue cooking, stirring a little more frequently, until that has been absorbed. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the stock has been completely absorbed.

The remaining liquid should be added, stirred, and simmered until cooked and creamy. Add the chopped salmon, mascarpone, parsley, and lemon zest after removing them from the fire.

Add some black pepper, but leave off the salt because the salmon already has enough salt. After allowing it to settle for 5 minutes, taste it and, if desired, add a little lemon juice. Serve with some reserved salmon, which has been coarsely torn.

2.5. Salmon Risotto Recipe Using Pesto

The ingredients required for this recipe are butter, onion, risotto rice, white wine, salmon stock or chicken stock, cooked salmon, pesto, and black pepper to taste.

The next step is to melt the butter. For that, use a small pot and place it over medium-high heat. Add the minced shallots when it’s heated and sauté while stirring often.

Add the rice and stir well once the shallots are soft. Add the Marsala or white wine after a few minutes of cooking while frequently stirring. Till the liquid has mostly evaporated, stir continuously.

One cup at a time, begin adding the stock, and thoroughly mix it in. Reduce the heat to medium-low, stirring often, and continue cooking until the liquid has mostly been absorbed. Add stock slowly till the rice is cooked; an extra cup of liquid is necessary.

When the rice is nearly done, add the fish and pesto and cook for an additional few minutes. If necessary, add water to your risotto so that it is loose enough to be served in a bowl rather than a platter. Sprinkle it with pepper and then serve.

2.6. Salmon Risotto Recipe

The ingredients required for this recipe are onion, garlic, arborio rice, white wine (dry), leeks butter, parmesan cheese, salmon fillet, vegetable stock, salt and pepper, and extra virgin olive oil.

2.6.1. Cook The Salmon

The salmon fillets must first be cleaned and dried. Cut them up into bite-sized pieces after that. Peeled garlic is added to a pan that has been heated with olive oil.

Add the salmon pieces and lightly fry them on all sides for 3 minutes. Next, take the garlic out. Remove the pan from the heat.

2.6.2. Cooking Risotto

Next, mince the leek. Put a big pot on medium heat and melt two-thirds of the butter. Leeks are sautéed for a short time after being added with a tiny bit of olive oil.

Add the rice and stir continuously while cooking it quickly over high heat. After that, deglaze with white wine and thoroughly stir. After that, turn down the heat and add a ladle of broth. You need to wait till all the liquid will be absorbed completely.

Then, continue to add a little broth while stirring regularly. Repeat the process once the soup has almost all been absorbed. Add the fried fish pieces and stir in between each 15-minute interval.

Remove the pan from the heat when the rice is cooked through but still somewhat firm to the biting. Now, incorporate the remaining butter and the shredded parmesan cheese. In the last step, add salt and pepper according to taste. Serve the risotto hot in bowls or on large platters.

In The End

Salmon risotto is an easy dish and great food which can be perfect to be served at family dinners or dinners with guests. With all the recipes mentioned above, you will fall in love with the dish.

People love salmon and risotto as well, but they find it difficult to cook. With simple recipes, you will fall in love with the whole process. You will enjoy cooking, finish cooking and serve immediately.

You can store leftovers in an airtight container. It will be fine to eat for 2-3 days. You can reheat it slowly so that the texture remains. Avoid freezing the salmon risotto.

FAQs About Salmon Risotto

You might have many questions regarding the various salmon risotto recipes.

How Do You Prepare Risotto?

To prepare the risotto, the ingredients required are butter, chopped onion and garlic, arborio rice, white wine, vegetable stock, salt and pepper, chopped parsley, and parmesan cheese.

To begin with, you need to melt the butter on medium heat. Once the butter is melted, add finely chopped onions and garlic, and then saute it.

The next step is to add arborio rice to the pan. You can keep cooking rice with the onions and garlic by stirring continuously on medium-high heat for around 1 minute. Add white wine and stir continuously. Let the rice absorb the wine and wait till the whole wine is evaporated.

Now, start adding stock to the rice slowly and keep stirring. The process will take 20 minutes. You can add the seasoning and chopped parsley.

Add the grated parmesan cheese and cold butter. You can cover the lid and let the risotto stay in that residual heat for a minute or two.

Can You Reheat Salmon Risotto?

There are different ways to prepare salmon risotto. But there is a serious question that might haunt your mind: can you store leftovers and reheat salmon risotto?

To answer your question, you can store leftover cooked salmon risotto, but don’t freeze it, as it might change the flavour and texture.

While having it next time, you can reheat it. But you need to be cautious about heating it slowly. This way, you can retain the texture of salmon risotto.

What Makes A Perfect Risotto?

Here are a few tips you can keep in mind while preparing risotto.

1. Avoid Using Cold Stock

Cold stock being added to a hot pan will affect the cooking process. Maintain a simmering stock in a small pan to ensure that everything cooks equally and stays hot.

2. Stir Continuously

Constantly stirring the rice will cause air to enter the risotto, which will cool it down and make it gluey. The rice will burn if you don’t stir it sufficiently, as it will stick to the bottom.

The starch produced when rice grains rub against one another is what gives risotto its creamy texture; therefore, stirring the rice is essential. The rice should, therefore, be stirred often, but you should also feel free to rest your arms.

3. Overcooking The Rice

Rice for risotto should only be cooked until tender but still have some bite. If you can mould a risotto, it has been overcooked. While risotto must have some texture, it shouldn’t be overly mushy or starchy.

4. An Amount Of Stock

Only when the stock is added all at once will the rice begin to boil. By adding stock gradually, you give the rice time to interact with one another and form that creamy starch. Wait until the rice has absorbed all the stock before adding any more. Likewise, keep in mind the ratio: 1 cup of arborio rice to 4 cups of stock.

5. The Heat

If you think that risotto is meant to be cooked more slowly, then you are right. But if you cook it at a very low temperature, it will never be done. The cooking of rice should be done at medium-high heat.

6. Cooking Of Vegetables

You should add cooked veggies to your risotto once the rice has finished cooking. This is essential for sensitive plants and foods like spinach, chives, and lemon zest as well as for delicate vegetables and herbs like asparagus, mushrooms, and legumes.

7. Size Of The Pan

If the pot is too wide, the rice won’t be able to bump and grind together enough to form starch, and it will cook in a thin layer. Pick a pot that perfectly fits over your burner because it will have hot and cold spots.

8. Adding The Cheese

Mascarpone and Parmesan should be added very last, just before serving. Heat will cause fat to disintegrate, which will be generally unpleasant. We prefer to add some freshly prepared, unsweetened whipped cream to the cooked rice to give it a silky, light texture.

What Is The Best Rice For Risotto?

The ideal rice types for risotto are plump, short- to medium-sized grains abundant in starch. This is the reason behind the risotto’s creamy feel.

Arborio Rice

Compared to the other two varieties, arborio is less starchy and is wider and longer. As a result, the risotto becomes softer and slightly thicker. It is the preferred option due to its extensive availability.

Carnaroli Rice

The creamiest risotto is claimed to be made with Carnaroli rice, also referred to as the “king” of risotto rice. In the majority of Italy’s regions, this rice is recommended.

Vialone Nano Rice

Vialone Nano is a valued cultivar that is native to the Veneto. It results in the wavy risotto texture since it is a little less “sticky.”

Out of all the varieties, the most extensively used is arborio rice.

What Type Of Fish You Should Choose To Make Salmon Risotto?

Few recipes use fresh fish, while other recipes use frozen fish. So, it depends either on the recipe you are choosing or the fish you have with you at the time of cooking.

Specifically, mention you can use fresh Scottish salmon. It is an excellent choice for families because it’s so simple and adaptable to cook with. This is an oily fish which have many health benefits.

The calorie consumption required for a healthy body varies from person to person and also depends on other factors like age, sex, etc. You can always calculate the nutritional information about the recipe you are preparing with the help of various calculators available online.

Last Updated on January 24, 2024 by Arnab Nandi