Risotto Milanese

  • Level: Easy
  • Yield: 4 to 6 servings
  • Total: 55 min
  • Prep: 10 min
  • Cook: 45 min
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Ingredients

Extra-virgin olive oil

1 large onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice

Kosher salt

2 cups Carnaroli or Arborio rice

2 large pinches saffron

3 to 4 cups chicken stock, kept HOT

1 1/2 to 2 cups dry white wine

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 to 3/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Directions

  1. Coat a large saucepan generously with olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and salt and sweat them until translucent, about 5 minutes. Bring the pan to a medium-high heat. Add the rice and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, letting the rice slightly stick to the bottom of the pan and scraping it off. It should also sound crackly.
  2. Add the saffron to the hot chicken stock; the stock should turn bright yellow.
  3. Add the wine to the pan until it covers the surface of the rice. Season with salt and cook over a medium-high heat, stirring continuously until the wine has absorbed into the rice. Add the saffron chicken stock to the pan until it covers the rice. Cook over a medium-high heat, stirring continuously until the stock has absorbed into the rice.
  4. Repeat this process two more times with the hot saffron chicken stock. When the third addition of the stock has absorbed and the rice is very creamy, bite a couple grains of rice to be sure it is cooked perfectly. If it is still a little crunchy, add a little more stock and cook the rice for another couple of minutes. When the rice is cooked perfectly, remove it from the heat.
  5. Toss in the butter and Parmigiano-Reggiano and "whip the heck out of it." The rice should be creamy but still flow and hold its own shape.

Let's Get Cooking!

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v n.

I made this as a side to pork milanese. I used the technique for "holding" the risotto so that I could finish it to accompany the pork. I poured a cup of the simmering stock over saffron and let it steep, and poured that concentrated stock/saffron mix in first after the wine reduction. That way I could split the "held" risotto. I am trying an experiment with the other "held" half: after cooling completely, I wrapped and froze it. The only modifications to the ingredients was to use the classic bone marrow vs butter for the finish. Maybe it's just me, but I found that the saffron has such a subtle flavor that it doesn't seem to justify the cost. I will try a cheat with Annatto seed next time to lend the classic color and report back. I will also report back on the freeze experiment. Otherwise this was a good basic recipe. I have made lots of risotto variations and found that milanese is rather bland. We much prefer a mushroom or a roasted red pepper and goat cheese risotto. As to the technique, this recipe is perfect.

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