Risotto is a dish with starchy rice cooked in a broth/stock. The rice used primarily are arborio, carnaroli, and vialone.
The rice is usually cooked by adding the liquid a ladle full at a time with very frequent stirring, though many are now just adding the liquid and letting be.
When starting the risotto, there is usually at least onions sautéed in butter and sometimes celery as well, then the rice is toasted, then deglazed with vermouth or wine.
The broth is then slowly added, waiting until it gets absorbed before adding more.
It is classically cooked al dente, but most restaurants in America will serve it tender.
Restaurants from different cuisines have taken on this delicious rice dish. I have seen it in Albuquerque at a Spanish (Spain) restaurant who put hatch chiles and corn it, and at a German style restaurant in Fredericksburg.
- Fun fact of the day: Mussolini tried to get Italy to eat more risotto instead of pasta due to the country’s reliance on importing the wheat.
