One of my first dishes I learned to cook when I was a child was risotto. It brings me some past sweet memories, when my mother, while cooking it, asked me and my sister to stir the rice. Maybe I love risotti for this reason: they remind me to my childhood, the time I spent with my mother in the kitchen, her tips. We made This version with radicchio very often and we add sausages sometimes. I should post it on my blog!
- In a large saucepan toast the rice without adding oil and onion or butter. In doing so, it will toast uniformly and the spring onion will not burn.
- Add wine, some extra virgin olive oil and the chopped onion. Simmer untile the wine is absorbed then add the radicchio (finely chopped) and two cups of boiling stock.
- Add salt and stir. Continue adding one cup of stock every time it will be absorbed and simmer until the rice will be tender and creamy.
- When the rice is ready remove it from heat and add the Parmesan. If you like, add some cubes of cheese, like smoked scamorza.
N.B. - Chop radicchio in advance and let it rest in some fresh water if you don't like its bitterness too much. Change the water 2-3 times before draining and adding it into the rice.
- Stir the rice with a whisk and not with a spatula. In this way your risotto will be much more creamy.
- Turn off the heat when risotto is still liquid. Cover and let it rest. The rice will cook with its own steam and all the flavors will assemble.