Tag: Rice

Saffron and rice, Davide Oldani's recipe – Italian Cuisine

The recipe for "Saffron and Rice", Davide Oldani's version of the Milanese risotto, from the special August issue of La Cucina Italiana

In the video above, Davide Oldani – director of La Cucina Italiana for a month – tells his vision of the classic Milanese risotto: "without sauté, I emphasized rice and saffron, with which I prepare a creamy infusion that I add only at the end". Below, the complete recipe!

Saffron and Rice

For 4 people

For the rice
Toast 320 g of aged Carnaroli rice in a saucepan, sprinkle with boiling water and cook for 13-14 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in 60 g of butter and 60 g of grated parmesan and the zest of 1 lemon. Season with salt and season with white wine vinegar.

For the sauce
Boil 200 g of water; add 15 g of corn starch mixed with 20 g of water, a little salt, sugar. Remove from the heat and add 0.20 g of saffron in stigmas (about thirty stigmas). Leave to infuse for 30 minutes.

For finishing
Arrange the rice in the center of the dishes and finish with the sauce, distributing it in a spiral.

Rice salad: how to make it healthier – Italian Cuisine

It is one of the most popular dishes in the summer. It can be prepared in many ways and with different ingredients. Here are the useful tips to prepare it without risking gaining weight

In summer, rice salad is a dish very present at the table. It is the ideal "save lunch" and "save dinner" solution when you have little time to cook or you have little desire to do it because of the heat. In fact, it can be prepared in advance and consumed both at home and outside. One of the advantages of rice salad is its versatility. It can be seasoned with always different ingredients that do not bore the palate and ensure a great variety of nutrients. In addition, if prepared with the right ones, it can become a single dish friend of the line and health. "The basic rule to follow to bring a balanced and complete rice salad to the table is to choose recipes that provide the right amount of carbohydrates, proteins, fiber and good fats," suggests the nutritionist Valentina Schirò, specializing in food science. Let's see in detail with the help of the expert what are the tips to follow to make rice salad a healthier dish.

Choose brown rice

Compared to the white one, brown rice gives more satiety and is richer in valuable nutrients for health. "It has a higher fiber content which slows down gastric emptying and reduces the absorption of sugars, ensuring a more prolonged sense of fullness", says nutritionist Valentina Schirò. It also contains more vitamins, minerals and other beneficial substances for the body. «Black rice, for example, brings polyphenols, in particular anthocyanins. These substances have antioxidant properties: they protect the body from damage caused by free radicals, responsible for cellular aging. They also have an anti-inflammatory action. They promote blood circulation and drainage of excess fluids, responsible for swelling .

Pay attention to the cooking method

Many B vitamins of which rice is rich are water soluble and thermolabile. They dissolve in water and are sensitive to high temperatures. The advice to best preserve them and bring a nutrient-rich rice salad to the table suggests the expert "is to opt for absorption cooking in a little water".

Always add colored vegetables

In addition to giving flavor to the dish, fresh and cooked vegetables and fresh vegetables also provide many precious nutrients in season. «The more they are of a different color, the more they allow to increase the vitamin content of the dish. Orange-colored vegetables such as carrots for example, provide beta-carotene, precious for defending the skin from damage from exposure to the sun. Those red in color such as peppers and tomatoes are rich in lycopene, which protects against aging. Blue-violet vegetables like aubergines contain antioxidants, useful for the proper functioning of the circulation. Those green in color like zucchini, on the other hand, are rich in minerals, which promote hydration, "says the nutritionist. But the advantages are also others. "The soluble fiber in which vegetables are rich slows down the transformation of rice starch into sugars and helps to better modulate blood glucose. They therefore give more satiety and reduce the chances of meeting overweight, type 2 diabetes and many other ailments over time .

Use only one protein source

To make rice salad a healthy and balanced single dish, you only need to add one source of protein. «It allows you not to overdo it with fats and calories that weigh on the line and on health and facilitates digestion which is slower in the heat. So yes to fish, white meat (chicken or turkey) or eggs. Ok also to beans, chickpeas and other varieties of legumes or to low-fat dairy products such as classic mozzarella or ricotta ", suggests the expert.

Season it with extra virgin olive oil

"Thanks to its wealth of monounsaturated fatty acids, extra virgin olive oil makes the dish more satiating. Slows down the emptying of the stomach and lowers the glycemic load. In addition, the "good" fats it contains facilitate the absorption of vitamin E, of which it is particularly rich, which has a good antioxidant action, "says the expert. "The ideal to ensure all its benefits is to choose a cold-pressed oil and add it raw just before consuming it. In fact, air and light tend to oxidize them. "

In the gallery, the other tips from the expert to make rice salad healthier

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Cold rice cake: how to prepare it – Italian Cuisine

For many the cold rice it's the summer dish. But in order not to always bring the same to the table rice salad, have you ever tried to put it in one die?

A cold rice cake

Imagine serving the rice salad not with a spoon, but cutting it into slices like a cake.
It is an original idea to bring a dish taken too much for granted to the table.
You can use the mold you prefer by choosing from a scenographic donut, a simple plum cake or a classic cake.
Here's how it's done.

Compact rice

We suggest you to use a particular rice for this cold rice cake, that is the sushi one because it remains more humid and compact.
The beans remain after cooking united and for this it is possible to use it both to make rolls as in the case of sushi, and a rice cake.
You can find this particular type of rice in all supermarkets and to cook it just follow the instructions on the packaging, but in general it must be cooked like the other types of rice, only that the water must be absorbed.
You can add or not therice vinegar which is foreseen in the preparation of sushi, it depends a little on the taste you want to obtain.
If you want to flavor and color the rice, you can add it to the saffron or of the turmeric and if you love them herbs you can make a sort of very light pesto and add them to the rice once it is cold.

The seasoning

In fact it would be better to speak of stuffed because this is a stuffed cake.
Between two layers of rice you can put whatever you prefer. For example a rice salad classic and therefore tuna, tomatoes and mayonnaise, but also one blue cheese cream with crunchy vegetable cubes if you want a vegetarian variant.
They are also very good slices of baked pepper with a cream of ricotta and basil, or the smoked salmon with guacamole.
The important thing is that it is something soft and creamy that binds the ingredients of the filling to obtain perfect slices.

How to compose the cold rice cake

Once the base is ready, that is the rice, spread part of it in a mold slightly greased with seed oil and then cover with a layer of filling which, as already mentioned, must be compact enough not to get lost in pieces once the slices have been cut.
Then cover with another layer of rice and complete everything with mixed seeds or chopped aromatic herbs. Let rest in the refrigerator for a few hours and then served in slices.
Better to use one hinge mold to obtain an aesthetically perfect cake.

Final decoration

You can leave your rice cake simple, with a white surface, but you can also have fun decorating it in many ways and with many ingredients.
We have already said some seeds. If you use them choose them in contrast, then the poppy seeds for example that are small and black and stand out on white rice. Or use some vegetables cut into confetti or cut out with cookie cutters: starlets of peppers, tomato fish, carrot flowers. If you have a certain manual skill, make some roses with vegetables.
To make the cake similar to a pastry cake, you can also decorate it with cake cheese creams spreading them with one spatula on a regular basis or by applying them to the cake with a sac à poche in a very elegant way.

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