When I have a question about risotto, I go to Bill Porter, deputy arts and entertainment editor here at the paper, and a fine cook. Risotto isn’t exactly hard to make, but you have to do it right or you end up with a gummy, mushy or even crunchy mess.
In Food on Film this week, critic Michael Booth and I discuss “Big Night,” which begins and ends in the kitchen. In an early scene, a woman exhales cigarette smoke over the plate of perfect risotto just set in front of her, and asks where the spaghetti and meatballs are.
The chef, played by Tony Shalhoub, says “Sometimes the spaghetti likes to be alone.” “Big Night” is full of lines like that – the movie loves food as much as it loves the story of two Italian brothers struggling to make it in America without sacrificing art or taste.
The “big night” culminates with the presentation of a timpano, a dough-dome filled with meats, sauce, pasta, sausage and cheese. I made one once, and let’s just say this: Don’t start drinking wine until the dish is in the oven; it’s a long process. But it was an impressive dish to set before the family. For a good recipe, go to italianfoodforever.com and click on “recipes,” then “dried pasta: meat.”
For a more doable project, I asked Porter if he would share his risotto recipe, and more important, his method, this week. He obliged with an ode to the rice dish:
“Risotto is one of the loveliest and most versatile dishes in the Italian kitchen. Terrific all by itself, the basic risotto recipe also marries well with other ingredients. Classic seasonal variations abound: mushrooms in winter, asparagus in spring, sweet corn as summer deepens.
“Risotto is a rice dish with origins in Venice and the Veneto, the low-lying region on the northwest shores of the Adriatic Sea. The preferred rice is either arborio or carnaroli; most grocery stories carry both.
“A good risotto can stand on its own, but it also makes an excellent side with roasted chicken, pork tenderloin or beef.
“While it’s a simple dish to make, risotto does require some attention to detail and about 30 unbroken minutes at the stove. But it makes for a meditative stretch of cooking, and if you’re so inclined, it’s nice to have a glass of wine at hand.”
Bill Porter’s Risotto
This basic recipe serves 4-6. Go ahead and make the full batch even if you’re cooking for two. The leftovers can be formed into patties and griddled into lovely risotto cakes.
Ingredients
8 cups chicken stock
3 tablespoons butter, divided use
1 medium white onion, minced
2 cups arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Ground kosher salt to taste
Directions
Pour the chicken stock into a pot and bring to a simmer. Set aside on a low burner.
In a heavy, 5-quart saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat and stir in the minced onion with a flat-edged wooden spatula until it is just translucent. Do not brown.
Increase the heat and stir the rice into the onions until you can see a white dot on each grain. This takes about 3 minutes. Add the wine and stir to keep the rice from sticking.
Begin adding the stock one cup at a time. (A ladle that you know holds a half-cup or a full cup is useful for this.) Stir gently but thoroughly with the spatula until the cup of stock has been fully absorbed before stirring in the next one. Add a pinch or two of salt and keep stirring.
After 6 cups of stock are absorbed, check the risotto for texture. The rice should be a bit firm but give easily to the bite. Sometimes the risotto is ready to come off the stove after just 6 cups of stock. If more cooking is needed, add the remaining stock a half-cup at a time.
Adjust the seasoning. Add another tablespoon of butter, then fold in the cheese.
Serve immediately on warm plates. If you wish, garnish with some finely chopped flatleaf parsley. Pass the pepper mill at tableside.
