Basic Risotto
I love making risotto for family meals. It’s not something I have time for every day—it takes a good 30 minutes, mostly at the stove—but it is one of those special dishes that focus my attention and engage all my senses in the amazing processes of cooking. I smell, see, and taste what’s in the risotto pan, of course, but I am listening too: for the clicking sound that tells me the rice grains are sufficiently toasted and it’s time to splash them with wine; for the distinctive bubbling as each addition of cooking liquid disappears in the pot, which tells me the rice is ready for more. If I’ve stepped away from the stove—I do take a break from stirring risotto now and then, and you can too—that sound brings me back. I add more liquid and stir (and stir and stir), and feel, through the wooden spoon in my fingers, the corner of the pan where the rice is almost sticking, the resistance that tells me yet another cup of broth is needed before I wander away again. The Basic Risotto recipe that follows is one that will give you this marvelous engagement of the senses. It’s a simple formula that will let you focus on the critical steps in cooking—in the end, creating a great risotto is 100 percent technique—not on a long list of ingredients. You can make this right out of the cupboard, building flavor and superb texture with just olive oil, onions, rice, wine, water, salt, and cheese. Nothing else, not even butter, is necessary. I give you choices, though: use butter or leeks or broth if you want, or more or less of the ingredients listed in ranges. I want you in the driver’s seat, following your senses and tastes, to achieve the texture and flavor you like best (see more on these choices in the box on page 228). With risotto, you see, it is more important that you understand what you are doing than that you add things in prescribed amounts. When you are in control of what’s happening in the pot, you will feel how powerful a few ingredients and a few techniques can be in creating an outstanding dish. To sharpen your focus, you’ll find each step of the recipe instructions accompanied by a brief explanation of its purpose and the chemistry of risotto—these are short, and, believe me, you will have plenty of time to read them while you are stirring! And if you have further questions about risotto, write me at www.lidiasitaly.com. I love teaching about this precious treasure of Italian cooking.
Recipe information
Yield
about 8 cups of risotto, serving 6 or more
Ingredients
For Finishing
Recommended Equipment
Preparation
Step 1
Pour 7 cups of water or other cooking liquid into a large pot and bring it almost to a boil. Cover, and keep it hot over very low heat, on a burner close to the risotto pan.
Cooking the Onions
Step 2
What You Are Doing: In this stage of cooking, you are softening and caramelizing the onions to form a flavor base for the risotto. You are keeping them from getting brown or crisp, and softening them by cooking in water, so that they will ultimately melt into the risotto. You then cook off the water completely, to prepare for the next step, toasting the rice.
Step 3
Put the 1/4 cup oil, onions, and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt in the big risotto pan, and set over medium heat. Cook the onions slowly, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, as they sweat, soften, and gradually take on a golden color, 8 to 10 minutes. Adjust the heat if the onions are about to get brown.
Step 4
Ladle 1/2 cup of water into the onions, stir well, and continue to cook the onions without letting them brown, still over low to medium heat, for another 5 to 10 minutes. The onions should be golden and glistening with oil, but all the water must be cooked away.
Toasting the Rice
Step 5
What You Are Doing: In this critical step, every grain of rice becomes coated and cooked in hot fat (the oil). This forms a capsule on the outer layer of each grain that will prevent it from absorbing too much liquid too fast and possibly disintegrating. “Toasting” means that the rice must be cooked on the outside—not brown. Toasted rice will still look white, but you can hear a clicking sound when you stir it.
Step 6
When the onions are completely devoid of water, add the rice all at once, raise the heat to medium, and stir constantly with the oily onions. Cook for about 3 minutes, until the rice grains have been toasted, but do not allow them to scorch or color. Have the wine ready to add.
Cooking with Wine
Step 7
What You Are Doing: In this quick step, you are balancing the starchy character of the rice with the acidity and taste components of dry white wine. These are quickly absorbed by the rice kernel, but the alcohol cooks off. Rice that is not tempered has less flavor and yields a starchy risotto.
Step 8
Pour in the wine all at once, and cook with the rice for 2 to 3 minutes, over medium heat. Stir constantly all around the pan, until the moisture has evaporated. Have the hot water close by, and be ready to add it with a ladle or measuring cup.
Creating the Creamy Risotto
Step 9
What You Are Doing: For the next 15 to 20 minutes, the gradual addition of hot liquid (it must be hot!) has two effects on the rice: it draws out the starches stored in the kernels, just a bit at a time, while the kernels are slowly absorbing liquid and cooking. Short-grain Italian rice has an abundance of a particular starch that, when released by the kernel into the warm liquid and fat in the pot, forms a creamy suspension. You must maintain a steady gentle simmering to maintain this process of “amalgamation.” While some of the liquid is absorbed by the rice, it is also evaporating, and the risotto will thicken and heat up rapidly. You stir continuously to prevent the starches from scorching. And you must add more liquid in small amounts to continue the process as described, until you have reached optimal softening of the kernels and development of the suspension. It is OK to stop stirring and leave the rice shortly after each addition of liquid, when it is wet and the danger of scorching is minimal—but don’t go far.
Step 10
For the first addition, ladle in 1 1/2 to 2 cups of the very hot liquid, enough to barely cover the rice; stir it in continuously, all around the pan. Add the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and stir well. Lower the heat, if necessary, to maintain a very gentle perking.
Step 11
Stir frequently at first, and then constantly as the risotto thickens. Make sure the spoon is reaching in all the corners of the pan, on the pan bottom, and around the sides. When all the water has been absorbed, the risotto is harder to stir—the bubbling sounds thicker too—and the pan bottom is visible in the track of the spoon, ladle in another cup of water. (If you are flavoring your risotto with a sauce—see box, facing page—stir it in at this point, before the second addition of water.)
Step 12
Cook, stirring always, and add another 2 cups of water when the risotto is ready for it, as just described—anywhere from 3 to 6 minutes between additions. Keep track of how much liquid you have added.
Finishing the Rice
Step 13
What You Are Doing: In this final step, you stop the cooking when the risotto reaches the consistency you want. You finish with olive oil, as a flavoring and amalgamating agent, and incorporate grated cheese and fresh pepper as flavor elements, to taste.
Step 14
After the addition of at least 5 cups of water, you can taste and gauge the degree of doneness of the rice kernels and the fluidity of the creamy suspension. At any time that you find the rice grains pleasantly al dente and the risotto creamy, you can choose to stop cooking. Or you may incorporate more water, up to about 7 cups total, if you want a softer, looser risotto.
Step 15
When you are satisfied, turn off the heat and stir in the 2 tablespoons olive oil. Stir in grated cheese and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Serve the risotto immediately in heated bowls, with more cheese and pepper at the table.
