The Best EVER Risotto Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to a good risotto? ›

Always use warm stock.

Warming the broth before adding it to the warm rice coaxes more starch out of each grain of rice and helps prevent it from overcooking. Cool broth takes longer to warm up in the risotto pan and may shock the grain into holding onto its starches while the rice itself continues to cook.

Use Salted Water Instead of Broth in Risotto

It's an ingenious tip on many levels.

The technique of risotto is to slowly and gradually cook a starchy ingredient by adding liquid in small amounts and stirring. This technique's main purpose is to draw starch out of the main ingredient to give the dish a creamy texture.

Sure, whipped cream won't save a gluey or gummy risotto (hey, there's always arancini), but it will make good risotto recipes even better. In the corn risotto recipe, that means whipping ½ cup of heavy cream to stiff peaks and then gently folding it into the pot.

According to Salvatore, it all depends on the ingredients. The chef prefers oil over butter (and oil works particularly well with seafood risottos), but butter is better for vegetable-based dishes like Rampoldi's black truffle with mushroom or mixed vegetable and ginger risotto.

Sautéed shallots, garlic, shiitake mushrooms, and thyme are used to build a robust and flavorful foundation on which arborio rice and hot stock are melded. With each stir of the spoon, the starches thicken, and the earthy essence of the mushrooms builds depth of flavor.

If you are able to get white wine vinegar then you can add a tablespoon of this to the rice and let it boil away before adding any stock and this will often give some of the flavour of wine, whilst reducing the alcohol content.

It comes from the Spanish word for butter and means to gently work something—usually a dish—into a creamy consistency by blending in some sort of fat or butter. With risotto, at the very end, melt some butter in a spoon of hot stock (or wine) and work it into the rice to form a creamy texture.

Risotto can be flavored in many ways, with ingredients like Parmesan cheese, mushrooms, and truffles commonly used to add depth and complexity to the dish. Because of the mild flavor, it can even be customized to be a dessert with ingredients like chocolate, bananas, or caramel.

How do chefs cook risotto so quickly? ›

The key is to spread the rice out into a thin, uniform layer so that it cools rapidly and evenly. Giving it a few gentle stirs as it starts to cool can hasten the process. *If you're cooking your risotto in a pressure cooker, just cut the cooking time down by about 25%, and leave out the last spoonful of liquid.

If your risotto goes “gluggy” before it is al dente: You aren't toasting the rice in oil to start. You are cooking it in too narrow of a pan. The risotto should be no more than half an inch deep in the skillet while you're cooking it so it has enough contact with the hot skillet when stirred.

Never wash your rice beforehand as this removes the starch, which is what helps give risotto its smooth texture. Cook your risotto on a low, simmering heat and add the stock gradually, one ladle at a time. This gives the rice time to fully absorb the liquid and flavours. Rushing your risotto will only ruin its texture.

Risotto in Italy is often a first course (primo), served before a second course (secondo), but risotto alla milanese is often served with ossobuco alla milanese as a one-course meal.

Sautéed shallots, garlic, shiitake mushrooms, and thyme are used to build a robust and flavorful foundation on which arborio rice and hot stock are melded. With each stir of the spoon, the starches thicken, and the earthy essence of the mushrooms builds depth of flavor.

The key, instead, is to undercook the risotto and cool it rapidly to prevent that rice from overcooking, so you can easily finish cooking it later.