How to cook the best rice risotto
Servings: 4 Cooking time 35 minutes
Utensils needed: Microplane Grater, a Heavy French Oven
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups of short-grain rice our favorite Carnaroli Vialone Nano
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 6 cups of homemade chicken stock
- ½ cup dry white wine (our Favorite Gros Plan)
- 1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano plus more for serving (kept cold in fridge)
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 tsp spoon of Saffon
- 2 tablespoons butter for the finish
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Guerande salt (our favorite) & black pepper to taste
Steps
- 1 Get everything ready and bring it to your stove area for easy access: finely chop your onion, measure out your risotto, measure out your wine. Microplane your cheese. Chop up your butter into small ½ inch cubes. Place your cheese and about 2 tablespoons worth of butter back into the refrigerator.
- 2 Heat your bone stock in a pot. Get up to the boiling point and immediately turn the heat off. The broth must be hot but not boiling, start adding it to the risotto rice.
- 3 Add the onion, butter, and olive oil into a heavy-bottomed French Oven/Dutch Oven or a large enough (10 inches+) pan that has not been preheated. Turn the heat up to medium.
- 4 Stir the onions until they soften up and become translucent but never brown. Cook slowly, stirring, turning the heat down to low if necessary.
- 5 Add the rice and keep the heat low to medium. Add the saffron and a small pinch of sea salt. Slowly stir the rice grains around. When you hear popping and clicking sounds the grains will begin to turn a very pale shade of gold.
- 6 Pour in the white wine and turn up the heat to medium. Cook off all of the wine — immediately ladle in enough hot stock to cover the grains completely.
- 7 On your timer timer set for 18 minutes
- 8 Get your heat settings to simmer, do not allow boiling. You should see gentle movement in the stock. Stir the rice to keep it from sticking.
- 9 Add more broth as it disappears into your rice. Wait until it is almost all gone before adding another ladle of broth.
- 11 At the 18-minute mark, taste your risotto — 10 Watch for those: It will require 18 minutes to cook the risotto. If it stops absorbing liquid well before time is up, you have kept the heat too high. The center of the grains will be unpleasantly starchy. If it is not ready yet, you have kept it too low. It will become mushy by the time it finally finishes. Remember to keep the stock and rice simmering and make sure your stock is hot to begin with!
- It should be al dente, tender, and creamy but not mushy. There will be a bit of resistance at the center but no starchy mealiness.
- 12 Remove the risotto from the heat, cover it, and allow it to rest for 4 minutes. Uncover and immediately beat in the cold butter and Parmesan. Taste for salt, and then add freshly ground black pepper.
- 13 Serve immediately.
