Risotto Alla Valdostana Recipes

RISOTTO ALLA MILANESE

Steps:

• Melt half of the butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Simmer the onion and beef marrow in the butter for about 10 minutes. When the onion is soft, remove the onion and marrow from the pan using a slotted spoon, and set aside. (I like to leave the onions in.)
• Saute the rice in the pan over medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes, or until lightly toasted. Stir constantly so the rice will not stick and burn. Stir in one ladle of beef stock, and keep stirring until it is mostly absorbed, ladling and stirring in more of the broth as well as the white wine in the same manner, until the rice is almost al dente. Stir in the saffron, remaining butter, and 3/4 cup of Parmesan cheese. Turn off the heat, cover and let sit for 4 or 5 minutes.
• Serve as a bed for ossibuchi or by itself with as much of the remaining Parmesan cheese sprinkled over as you like.

RISOTTO ALL'AMATRICIANA

Steps:

• Place 2 tablespoons of the butter in a heavy two-quart saucepan. Add the onion and cook over low heat until the onion begins to soften. Add the pancetta and red chili peppers and saute until the pancetta renders its fat and the onion is tender.
• Add the tomatoes, salt and pepper. Increase the heat to medium and cook until the tomatoes thicken and turn into a sauce, about 10 minutes. Add the rice, stir and reduce the heat slightly.
• Heat the broth to boiling. Turn the heat to very low under the broth to keep it warm. Begin adding the broth to the rice mixture about half a cup at a time, stirring constantly to prevent sticking. As the rice absorbs the broth add more warm broth. Continue adding broth until the rice is al dente, tender outside but with a little bite at its center, and the mixture is quite moist, about 25 minutes total cooking.
• Turn off the heat and stir in the remaining butter and the six tablespoons of grated pecorino Romano cheese. Serve extra grated cheese at the table.

CHICKEN VALDOSTANO

Steps:

• Lightly flour chicken breasts, shaking off excess flour. In a large skillet over low heat, melt butter/margarine. Add chicken and saute until lightly browned, about 2 minutes each side. Remove with slotted spatula and set aside.
• Increase heat to medium low. Add mushrooms and saute until juices are rendered, about 4 minutes. Add wine and simmer until reduced by 1/4, about 3 to 4 minutes. Increase heat to medium high. Add stock, parsley and pepper and simmer until sauce reduced to 1 cup, about 10 minutes.
• Reduce heat to low. Top each chicken breast with a slice of prosciutto and a slice of fontina cheese. Return chicken to skillet and cook just until cheese melts. Transfer chicken to individual plates and top each with some of the mushroom sauce before serving.

RISOTTO ALLA PAVESE

Steps:

• Pour vegetable broth into a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Add fresh cranberry beans and return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until beans are soft but not mushy, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove beans with a slotted spoon, leaving the vegetable broth over the heat source on medium-low.
• Heat olive oil and butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, whole rosemary sprig, bay leaf, and sage. Sauté until onion is soft and translucent, about 7 minutes. Add rice and stir to toast the rice, 2 to 3 minutes. Once rice is toasted, add drained beans and stir until well coated.
• Add white wine and stir until wine is fully absorbed. Add 1/2 cup broth to the rice and stir until the broth is absorbed. Continue adding 1/2 cup of broth at a time, stirring continuously, until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is al dente. Add tomato sauce and stir until creamy and thick. This whole process will take about 18 minutes.
• Remove risotto from the heat source and let stand for 2 minutes. Remove rosemary twig, bay leaf, and sage and serve.

RISOTTO ALLA MILANESE

Steps:

• Put 30 g of the butter in a large pan and melt it (keep the remaining butter for later).
• Add the finely chopped onion.
• Sweat over a medium heat for about 2 minutes.
• Add the bone marrow and continue cooking for another 3 minutes, breaking it with the spoon while stirring.
• Once the onion is soft, add the rice and and stir until the rice is completely coated with the fat.
• You can see that the rice will start to become translucent, keep stirring and sweat the rice for a minute or two.
• Then, add the white wine, keep stirring and let the wine evaporate (it will probably take a couple of minutes).
• Now, add the stock and turn the heat to medium/low, the stock, which is kept simmering in order to stay hot, should be added at the rate of a couple of ladlefuls at a time and when this is absorbed, add more stock.
• Carry on in this way for about 15 minutes, during this stage, do not leave the pan alone and stir regularly (gently).
• After 15 minutes, you will probably need an extra 3 to 5 minutes to complete the final stage of cooking (this time depends on the type of rice you are using). From now on, taste the rice every minute until the rice is cooked "al dente" (this means that the rice is tender outside, but still slightly firm to the bite in the centre). At the same time, the tasting will tell you if you need to adjust seasoning with salt. Regular but gentle stirring is required for the last minutes in order to avoid the risotto sticking to the bottom of the pan.
• In these last minutes, if the stock is completely absorbed, you can gradually add a bit more (say a half ladle at a time) because at this final stage you do not want the risotto becoming too watery.
• Now, at about the 15th minute, put the saffron powder into a glass.
• Add half a ladle of stock and dissolve the saffron stirring with a small spoon and then add the saffron into the pan.
• Stir until all the rice is uniformly coloured (golden yellow). Continue cooking and adding stock as required.
• When the rice is perfectly cooked "al dente", add the Parmesan cheese and stir for few seconds until the Parmesan has melted.
• Then, put the cooker off, add all the remaining butter (cut into pieces) and stir until completely melted.
• Cover the pan with a lid for about 1 minute and allow the risotto to rest before serving it.
• Risotto should be served "all'onda" (like a wave). This means that when you serve it onto the plate, it should still flow a little.
• Buon appetito!