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Tuna Lemon Risotto

What is it about Risotto that is so comforting? I don’t know, and I’m yet to know why. Maybe being half asian, the close resemblance to congee gives me the feels and reminds me of my childhood.

I used to get super intimidated by the thought of making Italian cuisines other than pasta and ready made sauces. Despite the fact being told over and over, that Italian food is meant to be simple and humble, I was always very apprehensive about making anything other than Spaghetti Bolognaise. But, that quickly changed when I realised that Italian food, when cooked with love, will always become any family’s favourite. Granted, if you make any changes, you best be doing it at home and not letting any of your Italian friends know about it (otherwise they might get very angry about it).

So it was 4PM. We were broke, and had barely any fresh produce in our kitchen and pantry. I was sick; so was my son and my husband. I desperately wanted a meal that would soothe my throat, and also nutritious, without having to sacrifice an unborn child to the goat God of Woolies and Coles. So i checked what was available, did a bit of research and whipped up my own version of Tuna Lemon Risotto.

At first I was like “uh, i’m not sure if this will work”. But if there’s one thing I’ve learnt over years of self-taught cooking, it’s this: Tuna + Colby = Yummy combo. Be it in a casserole, pasta, whatever it is. You can never go wrong with Tuna and Colby. I also didn’t use any wine in this recipe purely because I didn’t have it, however if you do have it, feel free to incorporate it. I switched the cheese from Parmesan to Colby because we had no $$$ and had to use what was available in our kitchen. It doesn’t have the same umami profile, so if you find this is the case and it bothers you, you can either add a tiny bit of vegemite or a sprinkle of MSG to give it a little kick.

So without further ado, here’s my homemade recipe for our family’s Tuna Lemon Recipe.

Note: This recipe is part of my Zillenial Meals Series.

Serves 4 // Prep: 10m // Time: 40m // Price per portion: A$2.60

Ingredients:

400g can of tuna in spring water

1.5 cups of arborio rice

125g of shredded colby cheese

4 cups of chicken stock (if you don’t have any, you can dilute chicken stock cubes in hot water and it’ll do fine)

1 medium brown onion

35g salted butter

1 tsp olive oil

1 tsp garlic mince

1/2 tsp basil

1/2 tsp thyme

Lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste

Method

Start by shredding the cheese and dicing the onions. Set aside.

On a non-stick pan, melt the butter on medium heat, and sauté the diced onions. Stir as needed.

Boil chicken stock in a saucepan. If you don’t have chicken stock, boil water and add the chicken stock cubes. Turn off the heat.

Once the onions on the pan start smelling a bit fragrant, add the minced garlic and stir as needed. Turn the heat down. Make sure the garlic is not burnt.

Stir in the arborio rice. Keep it at a low level heat. Keep stirring for 2 minutes.

Slowly add in the chicken stock with a soup ladle. Stir the risotto every 30 seconds.

After 10 or so minutes, the rice will start swelling a bit. Keep stirring. This time, you can increase the heat to a medium level to help release the starch. Keep adding the stock one ladleful at a time.

The risotto will start to thicken after a while. Once you reach a slightly runny yet thick consistency, turn off the heat for a bit while you open the can of tuna and use a strainer to get rid of the water.

Mix in the tuna, turn on the stove again but keep it on a low heat.

Add lemon juice, thyme, basil, salt and pepper. Adjust as needed.

Once it resembles a thick congee-like consistency, turn off the stove and add in the shredded cheese. Stir one last time.

Serve hot.

Please note that risottos, like any other type of rice, don’t do well in freezers. You can keep it in the fridge up to 3 days, covered in a container. Before you put it away, make sure it’s not hot anymore and is very cool. To reheat, simply chuck it in the microwave for 30 seconds. If it’s still cold in the middle, stir and chuck it again for another 20 seconds.