So the temptation is to just list a bunch of ingredients with no quantities, and say "You work it out; Genevieve did". But then I am reminded of the legendary version of Paul's Favorite that Paul put together with no quantities, and I think maybe it would be best to at least put some guidance in.
But don't be confused. Risotto is one of the most flexible dishes you can make. Since you just keep adding broth or water until it's done, there's none of this "exactly 2 cups...don't lift the lid" stuff that haunts most rice recipes. The only rigid requirement is: stir it like a mofo, start to finish. I know, I know, there are 29,000 "no stir risotto" recipes on the Internet. Ignore those people, they are making rice.
The reason I haven't put this recipe up so far is that while you can make just plain risotto, you generally don't. You make chicken risotto, or asparagus risotto, or skate liver risotto (Just kidding. No clue whether skates have livers.) But all these turn out to be mostly covered by a recipe for Stuff Risotto that involves one extra instruction: "Dump Stuff in". I'll indicate a couple below à la Mark Bittman, but they're just there to get you thinking.
Another reason I haven't posted it is the fact that it is not a traditional Durst Pinette family favorite, served to the kids since childhood. It was still a new recipe to me when I pulled it out of...um, thin air... one recent Christmas. And I am still contending with the Maman's concepts of when it's done. (More about that later.) But given that this blog has been entirely overtaken with Susan's recipes from twenty minutes ago, I probably shouldn't worry about it.
OK, here we go:
1-4 tbsp. butter, olive oil, or whatever (let's say you should probably use some kind of fat)
1/2 - 1 onion
1 cup arborio or carnaroli rice (see warning below)
1/2 cup white wine
3-6 cups chicken stock, vegetable stock (whatever that is), or water
Another tablespoon or two of butter
1/4 cup Parmigiano or other grating cheese
Warning on the rice: you see boxes in grocery stores that say "Risotto", but which turn out to be more than just rice; they're some prefab version of the whole thing, and in general there's way too much salt and a whole pile of freeze-dried miscellany. If you can throw all that stuff out, the rice might be acceptable. But honestly, in that case, maybe try it with just regular rice. Or maybe just throw the towel in and make regular rice. No shame in that.
Warning on the cheese: if you use honest-to-God Parmigiano-Reggiano, you'll get little stringy filaments of cheese that pull loose from the rest in serving or picking up a forkful, and wow, that is great. But if you use Asiago or Pecorino or Grana Padano or Parminder Nagra, it'll still taste fine. There will just be slight differences in texture.
So get your stock or water simmering on a back burner. I don't understand why, but whatever amount you choose, it won't be enough. You'll be at the end and running out of it just when you want one more ladleful. Add some water as it starts getting low.
Plop in the fat. I've used as little as 1 tablespoon for a cup of rice, and Giulano Bugialli wants you to use 4, plus one of olive oil. Make it relate to the amount of rice.
Once the fat is hot, saute the onions for a while. Don't brown them, but they should at least lose much of their crunch. Then stir in the rice. 1/4 cup makes a nice personal risotto, and when I use the big risotto pan at home, I often use 2 cups. Much more than that, you're kind of running a restaurant, why are you paying any attention to this blog? Stir it and cook it at least until everything's mixed well, but for best results, you want the rice kind of translucent and just about to start browning. Browned is bad, but "toasty" is OK.
Then put the wine in. This is the only cold liquid you'll put in. And while it's optional, it contributes a lot to the character of a risotto. Obviously, adjust the amount depending on how much rice. Stir until there's very little liquid left.
At this point you put a ladleful (say, 1/2 cup) of simmering broth in at a time, and stir it until the liquid's mostly gone and the increasingly creamy bit in the bottom of the pan leaves tracks when you stir it. Then another ladleful. And another. So the long day wears on.
At some point you'll think you're done. Taste the rice. In fact, start tasting it at like ten minutes; there will be a chalkiness to the rice, and you want to keep adding liquid and stirring until that's totally gone. At that point it's a matter of taste. Some recipes want you to stop while there's still a very chewy center to the rice kernels, and at the other extreme you've essentially made congee. The Maman likes it at that extreme; though I'll never really know, since I have yet to make a risotto where she doesn't say "I would have liked it cooked a little more".
Last, mix in the cheese, and maybe a final bit of butter. Again, quantities to taste. None is one extreme; Cheese Risotto is the other.
A couple of examples of Stuff Risotto:
Mushroom Risotto:
Saute some mushrooms. Make them interesting for best results: trumpets, or chanterelles, morels, which are great. But don't combine forty mushrooms. Pick one, though maybe add in some dried porcini. Soaked in very hot water for fifteen or twenty minutes, then chopped fine (that was all we had at Genevieve's). Strain the water (cheesecloth if you've got it), and use it as some of the risotto liquid. Dump the mushrooms in just before the final cheese and/or butter.
Shrimp Risotto:
Dump shrimp in at the last minute. If you're lucky enough to get fresh unshelled shrimp -- it's still fine with Trader Joe Frozen Shrimp -- take off the shells first and make a broth from the shells (boil 'em for fifteen or twenty minutes, onions, celery optional). Then use that broth as the liquid.
Final note: Risotto à la Milanese is plain risotto with saffron steeped in the broth. It's yellow!
