Classic Spinach Risotto Recipe (VIDEO) (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to a good risotto? ›

Always use warm stock.

Warming the broth before adding it to the warm rice coaxes more starch out of each grain of rice and helps prevent it from overcooking. Cool broth takes longer to warm up in the risotto pan and may shock the grain into holding onto its starches while the rice itself continues to cook.

Risotto rice varieties are short grain varieties, which have higher levels of starch. During cooking the rice is stirred constantly and this causes the rice to release starch and thicken the risotto.

It's Creamy but Not Too Thick

The Italians have a saying for what perfectly cooked risotto should look like — it should be like “la onda,” a wave that slowly rolls to shore. Leave it to the Italians to make risotto poetic. What that means is the dish should have the consistency of thick porridge.

Risotto is a rice dish but differs substantially from other rice dishes, mainly because of its semi-fluid and creamy consistency. A rice dish can be called risotto only if the cooked mixture, when served on a flat plate, can flow like sequential wave currents.

Yes, the foundational creaminess of well-made risotto should come from the starches that the grains release slowly over the cooking process—but a bit of actual cream doesn't hurt, either. Make sure to season the risotto with salt after you've added the whipped cream.

Use Salted Water Instead of Broth in Risotto

It's an ingenious tip on many levels.

You can use lobster stock for a lobster risotto or mushroom stock for a mushroom risotto, but don't blindly use chicken stock or vegetable stock for every risotto you make. The rice has its own subtle flavor, which shouldn't be masked by a concentrated stock.

Arborio is the most popular short-grain rice for making risotto. It is capable of absorbing large amounts of liquid and produces a relatively creamy risotto with a hearty texture. Carnaroli is a plumper, larger grain of rice that has a high starch content.

Stirring the risotto helps the flavors meld consistently and activates the starch so that the risotto comes out consistent and not lumpy or burnt at the bottom. Non-stirred risottos come out closer to a pilaf or a casserole and may taste a little chunkier and a whole lot more inconsistent than you may want.

What are the disadvantages of risotto? ›

Risotto contains carbohydrates, which are necessary to fuel the body. But, some recipes are high in saturated fat because of the cheese and butter that is used to prepare the dish. Risotto can also be high in sodium.

One of the most famous risotto dishes is no doubt risotto alla Milanese. The first recipe mentioning the dish appears in cookbooks starting in the 1800s.

According to Salvatore, it all depends on the ingredients. The chef prefers oil over butter (and oil works particularly well with seafood risottos), but butter is better for vegetable-based dishes like Rampoldi's black truffle with mushroom or mixed vegetable and ginger risotto.