Risotto - the very versatile rice dish

Risotto can be served as a first course, a side dish, and even as a full entree.  The quantity and nature of the ingredients you add makes each creation unique.  Although the stirring technique to make a great creamy risotto requires patience and endurance, the effort will definitely pay off.

You will need,

• A wooden spoon (wooden spoons are used because they are gentle on the rice grains)
• Pots for cooking the rice and other saucepans for cooking veggies, meats and other ingredients
• Patience and strong arms because you'll be working the rice for at least 30 minutes

Ingredients

• Arborio rice (Italian)
• Broth (any kind to suit your taste, be it vegetable, beef, fish, chicken etc.) either purchased as bullion cubes or ready-made, or made from the drippings and liquids of the ingredients you use.  For example, seafood like shellfish contain plenty of liquid.  You should make/collect about one litre of broth for two cups of rice.
• Finely diced garlic (amount depends on your taste) and a half a white onion
• Unsalted butter (a quarter pound or more as needed)
• White wine (optional)
• Cheeses (finely grated, hard to semi-hard; I like parmigiano reggiano)
• Any of the following ingredients you can use to make your own creation.  Be they mushrooms, sundried tomato, seafood, bacon, etc.

Directions (labour intensive, but improvise as you go)
For two cups of rice to serve four people as a main course.

1. Fully melt a quarter to one-third of a cup of butter in the pot on low heat.
2. Add the garlic and onions.  Stir the onions until they become translucent.
3. Add the rice slowly as you coat it in the melted butter.  The rice must be completely permeated with butter to begin the next step, so add more if you require.
4. Add half cup of wine if you prefer and stir gently until the wine absorbs and evaporates.
5. Add broth, one half cupful at a time.  Keep stirring on a medium heat until the broth is absorbed, then add then next portion of broth.
6. As you cook the rest of your ingredients, add the liquid runoffs in small portions and keep stirring.

The entire step of adding broth takes time, about 30 minutes or more, so be patient, keep stirring and prevent the rice from burning. 

    7.   Add your other ingredients in the final steps of cooking the risotto.
    8.   Finish off by adding the grated cheeses to suit your taste.  This will also help to thicken the risotto.
    9.   Add garnishes.  Rosemary sprigs, basil leaves, shells, etc.  This is your decoration.  Make it unique!

Wine to serve and enjoy with risotto
A good guideline, as always, is to match the weight of the food with the weight of the wine.  In addition, try to match the nuances in the food, with those in your wine of choice.  For example,

If you have chosen ingredients that have earthy characteristics such as mushrooms, parmesan cheese, and beef, a medium bodied red like Pinot Noir, (from Burgundy, California, Washington, or even Niagara) will be very satisfying because Pinot Noir has a lot of the same 'earthen' nose and flavours.  For an Italian wine, try Chianti as it is medium bodied and earthy in nature. 

Our risotto dinner at the Fattoria il Lago (Dicomano, Italy, in the Chianti region). 

This risotto was made with a seafood medeley in tomato sauce and garnished with shaved parmesan and mussel shells.

It was served with the winemakers flashship full bodied Chianti, Pian de' Guardi made exclusively with Sangiovese grapes.  The wine is intense, medium to fuller bodied due to the prolonged oak aging.  Acidity, tannin and alcohol are in balance with a variety of earthen and dark fruit flavours.

Keep in mind that acidity cuts through the perceived creaminess and fat of many foods, like risotto.  Acidic wines are meant to be palate cleansing.  Risotto that is made in a plain style will still have a very buttery taste which can be accompanied by the qualities of a barrel fermented Chardonnay.  Another style of Chardonnay that I find really pairs well with the minerality of seafood is Chablis, a wine made in the Burgundy region of France.  The limestone-laden soils of this region impart a crisp, flinty, minerality to the grapes.

Have fun trying different combinations of ingredients for your risotto creations and pairing them with multiple red and white wines.  Notice how wine can often change its presentation on your palate after a bite of food.  Conversely, take note of how wine can change the complexity of the taste of your dish.