Ingredient

Risotto

Risotto is creamy because starch has been rubbed off the outside of the rice grains and suspended in the liquid. There is no cream in a classical risotto — the creaminess is starch, and the whole method exists to release it.

Why the rice matters

Risotto rice — carnaroli, arborio, vialone nano — has a high proportion of a starch that dissolves readily into the cooking liquid, and a firm core that holds its shape while that happens. That combination is what allows a grain to be creamy outside and still have bite in the middle.

Long-grain rice has the wrong starch and will not go creamy. Pudding rice releases starch readily but collapses. There is no useful substitute, and carnaroli is the most forgiving of the three if you can find it.

The starch is released by the grains rubbing against each other and against the pan, which is why risotto is stirred, and why it is cooked in a wide pan with enough liquid to move but not enough to float.

The method

1. Have the stock hot in a pan alongside. Cold stock stops the cooking each time you add it and lengthens everything.
2. Soften finely chopped onion or shallot in butter or oil, slowly, without colouring.
3. Add the rice and stir it in the fat for a minute or two until the grains look translucent at the edges with a white core. This is the tostatura.
4. Add wine and let it evaporate completely. The sharpness cooks off and what remains is depth.
5. Add hot stock a ladleful at a time, stirring, waiting until each is almost absorbed before the next. Not constant frantic stirring — regular, attentive stirring.
6. After about 18 minutes start tasting. It is ready when the grain is tender with the faintest resistance at the centre.
7. Take it off the heat, beat in cold butter and grated parmesan vigorously, cover, and rest for two minutes. This is the mantecatura and it is what makes it glossy.

Getting the consistency right

All’onda

The Italian standard — "like a wave". Tilt the pan and it should ripple and settle flat, not sit in a mound.

Too stiff

Add more hot stock. Risotto continues to thicken on the plate, so serve it looser than you think.

Too loose

A minute more over the heat, stirring. Easily fixed.

Gluey

Over-stirred, or overcooked, or the wrong rice. The grains have collapsed rather than releasing starch from intact surfaces.

Chalky centre

Undercooked. Add more stock and give it a few more minutes.

Common mistakes

• Cold stock. It drops the pan temperature and the rice stops cooking each time.
• Washing the rice. You would be rinsing away the starch that makes the dish.
• Adding all the stock at once. The rice boils rather than being agitated, and less starch is released. It makes rice in stock, not risotto.
• Cooking it ahead. Risotto does not wait. Restaurants par-cook it and finish to order; at home, make it and eat it.
• Skipping the mantecatura. Cold butter and cheese beaten in off the heat is what emulsifies the whole thing. Do not skip it.
• Too deep a pan. A wide, shallow pan gives evaporation and room for the grains to move.

Common questions