How to Make an Easy and Authentic Italian Risotto

by Brian Alcamo

Like many of the creamier Italian dishes, risotto’s history resides in the north of Italy. Rice’s life in Italy began in the 14th century CE, during the Middle Ages when Sicily was being ruled by the Arabic caliphate. It was particularly the short-grained rice that fared the best in the Mediterranean climate of Italy. To this day, a true risotto can only be made from an Italian short-grain rice type (like arborio or carnaroli). 

The word risotto consists of two parts riso and -otto. Riso is Italian for the word “rice.” The suffix otto can be used to form pejoratives and it can be an alternative to the suffix etto, which is used to form diminutives. While the otto in risotto is fairly idiomatic at this point in the word’s history, it might come from the pejorative sense, being that risotto is cooked for so long that its consistency is something entirely different from typically cooked rice.

Missed our IG Live collab with Time Out New York where we make this delicious recipe? No problem! Find it below on IGTV.

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The Recipe:

(For 4 people) A simple, classic risotto, perfect as a base, vegetarian

Ingredients
400g of Rice (Arborio, Carnaroli or Vialone Nano)
1 White Onion, finely chopped
Half a glass of dry white wine
1L of Vegetable or Beef broth (Seasoned with salt, no extra salt will go in this recipe) 
A bit of Butter Olive Oil qb ( quanto basta)
100g of Parmigiano Reggiano finely grated Sea salt.
Freshly ground black pepper (a piacere)

Procedure
1.Finely chop the onion
2. keep the broth hot (previously prepared)  
3. Gently heat the extra virgin olive oil in a medium straight sided pan. You can add a little piece of butter if you prefer. Add the onions finely chopped, and cook until fragrant and beginning to soften, just a couple of minutes.
4. Add the rice and stir until every grain is coated with the oil. Keep at medium heat and continue stirring the rice until the edges have turned translucent, but the center is still opaque, about 2/ 3 minutes.
5. Once the rice is well toasted, add half of dry white wine glass and let the wine evaporate while continuing stirring constantly. Add a little broth, mix well and bring it to a low heat.
6. Slowly add the broth and increments stirring in between. ½ cup or so at time. Wait until the liquid has been almost completely absorbed by the rice before adding the next ladle.
7. Continue adding broth until the rice is al dente and the broth is creamy, risotto shouldn’t be sticky, but it should be fluid like a wave gentle running the shore. It has to be creamy silkiness
8. Once the rice is al dente, shut the flame off and start to mantecare.
9. Grate the Parmigiano Reggiano and add a bit of butter and with the help of a wooden spoon mix energetically. Then cover for a couple of minutes.
10. Serve in a flat plate and tap it down to spread evenly.
11. Enjoy it!

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Let’s Practice your Italian!

Now that you made your dish, let’s review some Italian vocab so you can buff up your language skills!

Tagliare= to cut
Tritare= to minced / to chop up
Cuocere= to cook
Rosolare= to brown
Tostare= to toast
Mescolare= to stir
Aggiungere= to add
Spegnere il fuoco= to shut the flame off
Grattuggiare= to grate
Mantecare= whisk
Cipolla= onion
Burro= butter
Olio= oil
Riso= rice
Brodo= broth
Sale= salt
Pepe= pepper
Bicchiere di vino bianco= glass of white wine

That’s all there is to it! Be sure to share this recipe with your friends and comment below how it turned out for you! A presto!

(Thumbnail photo by Julien Pianetti on Unsplash)