Everyone pretty much knows the classic risotto recipe: You heat a risotto rice type such as arborio in butter and chopped shallot, add a splash of wine — and then add ladle after ladle of warm broth to the rice, stirring pretty much all the time, as the rice gradually absorbs each measure of broth, until you get a creamy mass of hot risotto.
Cooks — especially this cook — have two issues with this method. The first is having to keep a watchful eye on the rapidly cooking rice as it takes in the broth so that the rice doesn’t dry out or, worse, burn. And the second is a function of the first, of having to stand over the pot, slave to the stove, the 15 to 20 minutes of cooking time.
But I found another way to avoid both pains in the ladle. It was from cooking an Indian meal with my sister, Tina. She is adamant about washing her basmati rice five or six times, in running water, until all the outside starch is washed clear of each grain. In Indian cooking, the idea is to have stacks of bright, fluffy rice, the opposite of the creamy, almost sticky accretion that is Italian risotto.
So, while I may rinse my basmati, I would never my arborio (or two other risotto varieties, carnaroli or vialone nano, the latter my preferred, although it is difficult to find). That exterior starch is the only thing that makes a risotto a risotto; it forms the “cream’ that binds all the grains, once cooked al dente, into what the Venetians call the “wave” (ondo) that is great risotto.
So, though I watch my sister’s starch run down the drain, I capture the starch for my risotto by rinsing it well and lengthily, by hand, in the broth that I use to make the recipe. The starch stays behind in its cooking liquid.
And in that way, I can both nicely brown the risotto rice in its fat (in fact, it makes for a better browning than the traditional, non-rinsed way), as well as finish the recipe just as if I were cooking a regular pot of rice, in one go, adding all the broth at once and letting the risotto finish itself without my having to stand guard. (Well, there is one stir in there, but just that.)
And Ecco! (Italian for “Voila!”), a risotto just like the traditional recipe, but with much less work or worry. My final bit of advice is to use a wide, low pan in which to cook the risotto, rather than a tall, narrow one. Given this method, the heat spreads out more evenly along a less piled-on mass so you do not end up with rice cooked more along the bottom than atop.
Risotto San Giovanni
Steeping the dried porcini in the warmed white wine, rather than in eventually tossed-away water, captures good “mushroom juice” flavor.
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cups risotto rice (arborio, carnaroli, violane nano; do not use long grain rice of any kind)
- 4 cups chicken stock (preferably homemade and low salt)
- 1 small handful dried porcini mushrooms (1/3 to 1/2 ounces; the more, the more intense the mushroom flavor and the darker the risotto)
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, 1 tablespoon set aside
- 2 small to medium shallots, peeled and minced, to taste
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, to taste
- Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley or other preferred green herb, to taste
Directions
In a large bowl or pot, rinse the rice for 4-5 minutes in the stock, swirling it around with your fingers. Scoop it from the liquid (or strain it, keeping mind not to lose or discard the stock) and set aside. Shake or brush the dried mushrooms of any obvious dirt or growing medium, chop them as roughly or finely as you will want them in the risotto and place them in a small microwave-safe bowl. Add the wine and heat the mix on high for 75 seconds to 2 minutes until the wine is very warm; let the mushrooms steep there for 15 minutes. Strain them from the wine (in a coffee filter, for example), keeping back any loosened dirt and keeping mind not to lose or discard the wine.
Over medium-high heat, in a large, heavy, low pan or skillet (not a tall sauce pot), melt the 3 tablespoons butter, add the strained rice and sauté for 4-5 minutes, stirring, until the rice is well coated with the butter and beginning to sizzle and smell nutty. Add the shallots and sauté the mix for another minute. Add the strained wine and all but 1/2 cup of the reserved stock (keep aside the 1/2 cup for finishing the risotto), stir the pot well, cover, and lower the heat as far as possible.
Cook for 10 minutes, then add the strained porcini, stir in well, scraping the bottom and sides of the pan, and put back the pan’s cover. Cook for another 10-11 minutes, until the rice is cookednearly through but still resistant to the bite.
Remove the cover; the risotto should now be just underdone. Raise the heat substantially and stir in the reserved 1/2 cup of stock (if needed), stirring to incorporate it, so that the risotto is bubbling vigorously and becomes thick and creamy. Remove the pan from the heat and add the grated cheese and reserved 1 tablespoon butter; season with salt and pepper. Serve on flat plates, garnished with the chopped parsley or herbs
Bill’s note: I also picked up some good tips on preparing risotto this way from one of my favored cookbook authors and teachers, J. Kenji López-Alt in his book “The Food Lab.”
Reach Bill St John at bsjpost@gmail.com.