The Sage Risotto Plus Multi Cooker, Brushed Stainless Steel, BRC600UK

Product Information

Pasta and risotto are the two first courses par excellence of Italian cuisine, both very versatile with many different ingredients. The main difference is that the second is a less popular dish, certainly more widespread in the culinary tradition of northern Italy and it’s a little more difficult to cook – because of its various stages of cooking that require attention and patience. That’s why we want to review the fundamental steps for a risotto with you, so you can make it the right way as we do in the Bel Paese. Which rice works best for risotto? When the rice is creamy but retains a little bite, turn off the heat and stir in the remaining butter and Parmesan and cover with a tea towel for 1 minute. The risotto should have a flowing texture, not stodgy and stiff. That said, we used the traditional one cup of rice to one cup of water method and that produced good results for both basmati and long grain rice. Brown rice needs more water – about a cup and a half to every cup of rice. We did have to try it a couple of times to get it right. There’s a 'keep warm' function but the manufacturers recommend not keeping that on for more than four hours. Cake is probably the most common item besides bread that you can prepare in a bread maker. The program will usually be named “Bake”, “Bake only”, or just “Cake”. In this mode you remove the kneading blade and use your bread maker simply as an oven. Mix the ingredients before popping them into the bread maker and you’ll usually need to add baking powder or another raising agent – besides yeast – to the mixture to ensure your cake rises. Sage are expert at designing kitchen appliances with cleverly integrated functions to take the stress out of cooking. Their range of smart appliances, which includes kettles, toasters, and blenders, through to their ice cream maker and microwaves, has been exactingly considered to give you perfect results every time, all at the push of a button. Whether its prepping, boiling, whisking, whipping, grilling, cooking and baking, thanks to Sage, cooking has never been so easy.

To start making this tantalising meal, chop up the shallots - or the white part of a spring onion - as finely as you can. Then, chop up the celery to give the dish a "mellow herbalism and lightness" which makes a big difference to the taste. Add butter to a pan and cover with olive oil to stop the butter from burning. Next, add the celery and shallot mixture into the pan over low heat - sprinkle with salt to prevent the onions from burning. Heat the olive oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Gently fry the shallot until softened, but not browned. Add the rice, stir to coat in the oil and cook for 3 minutes. Add the wine to the pan and cook until absorbed completely. Baking in a loaf tin, the fat has nowhere to go, so it simply sits on top of the meatloaf. Once out of the bread maker, I’d recommend that you pour out the fat – but be careful not to lose all of the glaze! Even the simplest of microwave rice cookers will cook grains such as quinoa and sometimes pasta as well as rice. In electric models, look out for extra cooking settings. These may include ones for specialist rice, including risotto, brown and wild, porridge, pasta, yoghurt and even cake! Rice cookers that are essentially multi-cookers will have all this. Plus 'slow' and 'fast' cook functions.And then finally, beat in butter and Parmigiano-Reggiano to make the risotto extra rich and creamy – a final flourish called the "mantecatura". How much you add is up to you. Then, taste it and adjust the salt and pepper. And that’s it.

Risotto rice has a short grain and is high in amylopectin starch. It's this starch, which is released by stirring, that produces the distinctive creamy texture. Long-grain rice varieties, like basmati , are lower in amylopectin, which gives them a fluffy and light texture. You can cook long-grain rice like a risotto, but it will never be the same.One of the most delicious risotto recipes is sausage risotto. Make it sautéing a knob of butter with chopped shallot. Add the sausage in pieces (casings removed), and brown, stirring with a wooden spoon. Add the rice and toast it for a few minutes. Add red wine. Cook the rice, adding hot broth as it is absorbed. Once cooked, remove from heat and stir in more butter and parmesan cheese. To prepare the mixed mushrooms, finely chop any cultivated mushrooms (such as chestnut or portobello), and tear any wild mushrooms into small pieces to keep an interesting shape and mix of textures. Pay attention to any maximum capacity warnings and baking advice in your breadmaker’s manual. It’s sometimes recommended that you line your tin with baking paper and/or grease it before pouring in the cake batter – as you would when baking a cake in a normal tin in the oven.

There’s no fanciness with this machine, it does what it says on the pot. But if you want something that does the job and is small enough to store in a cupboard when you’re not using it, this is perfect. Unlike the electric machines, it’s all dishwasher safe, too. Stirring while cooking is important for those two dishes, and this is where a bread maker’s jam program comes in handy. Just remember to set a timer – a jam program tends to be at least 1hr 30mins; you’re likely to need less time to make pudding or risotto.

How to toast the rice for risotto

You can use this program to make items besides cake, too, for savoury bakes and non-yeast breads such as soda bread.