Risotto is one of the finest Italian dishes and is appreciated all over the world. There are endless variations. Each region has its own traditional risotto recipes made with seafood, meat or vegetables. Today we are going to explore the method to make a perfect risotto, the Italian way!
Four important steps.
To make a good risotto it is important to follow each recipe step by step. There are 4 basic steps in the preparation process of each risotto:
1. Sauté the onions
2. Fry the rice
3. Cook the risotto
4. Let the risotto rest
Today we are going to see each of these steps in depth.
A few notes on the preparation process.
1. The preparation time and the ingredients will vary depending on the recipe.
2. During the whole process you have to constantly stir the risotto, therefore it’s important to prepare all the ingredients before you start cooking.
3. Don’t reheat the risotto because the rice will become chewy and dry. Prepare the risotto and serve it.
Method.
1. Sauté the onions. Sauté the onions in butter over a very low heat, until they are very tender and almost transparent.
Notes. The onions have to dissolve in your mouth when you taste the risotto. You can replace the onions with shallots, spring onions or garlic, depending on the recipe.
2. Fry the rice. When the onions are ready, add the rice and then fry it over a medium heat for a few minutes (stir constantly).
3. Cook the risotto. After frying the rice, add the wine. Once the wine flavour is absorbed and the alcohol evaporated, add the hot broth (usually a full ladle at a time) and cover the rice with it. Continue cooking and stirring. Once the liquid is almost completely absorbed, add more broth until you reach the ideal cooking consistency.
Notes. Use hot broth, because a cold broth will lower the temperature and compromise the cooking process.
4. Let the risotto rest. When the risotto is creamy and properly cooked, add the final ingredients (usually butter and cheese), stir well, cover with a lid and let the rice rest for a few minutes. Now the risotto is ready to be served.
Note. This will make the risotto very creamy and tasty.
Also see Traditional Recipe: Saffron Risotto
Foodfulife 
Wow looks delish. …
Thank you Chitra! This saffron risotto is so easy to make ,really delicate and delicious! Try it! 🙂
Mmmm! This looks delicious! I love risotto! 🙂
I am glad you like my post! 🙂 Thank you so much for stopping by 🙂
Great tips here! I love making risottos from scratch! Yours looks amazing! yumm!
Thank you so much Sophie! I am glad that you find this post useful! 🙂
🙂
Excellent advice on how to make the perfect risotto! My personal tip: I add a bit of finely diced celery almost every time I make a risotto. I find it balances out the acidity of the wine and helps bring it all together.
It would work well with some risottos. The saffron risotto, for example, is very delicate and the celery would cover up the flavour of the main ingredient, but we use it in the broth instead. To avoid acidity it’s important to buy really good quality white wine and let the alcochol evaporate completely at a medium heat, before adding all the other ingredients. We definitely use celery, carrots and onions in the soffritto as a base for many recipes here, it’s very very tasty!!! It works particularly well with meat dishes 🙂 X