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Risotto, Five Ways

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Time 4 to 6 servings

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Ingredients

  • 6 cups chicken, beef, or vegetable stock
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • Large pinch saffron threads
  • 1 1/2 cups Arborio or other short- or medium-grain rice
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine or water
  • 2 to 4 tablespoons softened butter
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, or more to taste

Instructions

  1. Warm the stock in a saucepan if you’d like. Put the oil in a large pot over medium heat. When it is hot, add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until it softens, 3 to 5 minutes.
  2. Add the saffron and rice and cook, stirring occasionally, until the rice is glossy and becoming translucent, 2 to 3 minutes. Add a little salt and pepper, then the wine. Stir and let the liquid bubble away.
  3. Use a ladle to begin adding the stock, 1/2 cup or so at a time, stirring after each addition. When the stock has been absorbed, add more. (You might not need all of it.) The rice should be neither soupy nor dry. Keep the heat at medium to medium-high and stir frequently.
  4. Begin tasting the rice after 20 minutes; you want it to be tender but still with a tiny bit of crunch—it could take as long as 30 minutes to reach this stage. When it does, stir in 2 tablespoons of the butter and at least 1/2 cup Parmesan. Taste, add more butter, cheese, salt, and/or pepper if you like, and serve immediately, passing additional Parmesan at the table.

– Recipe from How to Cook Everything: Completely Revised Twentieth Anniversary Edition 

Recipe variations

Risotto alla Milanese
With a minor addition, still classic: Add 1/4 cup chopped prosciutto—or beef bone marrow, if you can find it—along with the onion.

Risotto with Three Cheeses
Over the top: When you would ordinarily stir in the Parmesan, add equal amounts (1/4 to 1/3 cup each) grated Parmesan, crumbled Gorgonzola or other creamy blue cheese, and shredded or chopped Fontina or other semisoft cheese. Other cheeses that will do well: cubed fresh mozzarella; Robiola; or any hard cheese like Grana Padano or pecorino Romano.

Mushroom Risotto
Use Mushroom Stock; warm it in a medium saucepan and use it to soak 1/2 ounce dried porcini mushrooms until pliable, about 20 minutes. Remove them with a slotted spoon and chop. Instead of the onion, cook 1 pound sliced cremini mushrooms in Step 1 until they’re dry and begin to color, 10 to 15 minutes. When you add the rice in Step 2, stir in 1 tablespoon chopped garlic and the reserved chopped porcini, then proceed with the recipe. When you add the stock, be careful to leave any grit from the porcini in the saucepan. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley or chives.

Risotto with Seafood
Use fish, shrimp, or lobster stock (to make your own, see page 179) according to the seafood you choose; use fish stock with a combination of seafood. Omit the cheese. In Step 4, when the rice is almost done, stir in 1 pound (total) of the following, alone or in combination: sliced cleaned squid; shelled chopped shrimp; shucked steamed mussels; thick firm fish fillets, cut into 1-inch chunks; scallops; shelled cooked lobster pieces; or lump crabmeat. Cook just until the raw seafood is opaque and firm or the cooked shellfish is heated through, Stir in the butter, taste and adjust the seasoning, and serve, garnished with chopped fresh chives.