Creamy Saffron Risotto
Did you know that Italy is Europe’s largest producer of rice? We produce it, and we also have hundreds of recipes to eat it! Maybe risotto is not as famous as pasta or pizza, but it is equally tasty, with the right tricks.
Italian Name: Risotto allo Zafferano [riˈsɔtto ˈallo dzaffeˈrano]
One of the typical dishes of Milan – the city where I was born and raised – is saffron risotto, and it also happen to be the first recipe I learned to cook. I was twelve, chilling on the sofa waiting for dinner to be ready. My father was cooking and suddenly, he called me from the kitchen “Come here, tonight I will teach you how to make risotto”.
Fast forward several (SEVERAL) years, and here I am, teaching you how to cook it. Isn’t life bizzare?
Why It’s Worth a Spot on Your Table
You want to impress someone on a date? With this recipe they will tell you “Oh, darling, you are so sphisticated! Is there more?”. Experts (me) say that a well-prepared saffron risotto will leave every guest in marvel, wanting for more, asking where you learned such a difficult recipe. At that point you can fake some modesty and say, shrugging, “This? Oh, it is quite easy, you just need to follow some basic tips”.
The best part is that it is absolutely true! Saffron gives this recipe a very peculiar and typical flavour, and its creamy texture is really a pleasure.
Strong plus of this recipe: it is very easy to prepare the vegetarian version. You will just have to use vegetable broth instead of the classic meat one.
If you want to learn how to prepare this typical Milanese dish, just keep on reading!
Ingredients and Tips
Ingredients for 4 servings
- 400 gr Carnaroli rice (2 cups)
- 1,5 L broth (50 oz)
- ¼ big onion
- 5 tbsp olive oil
- 100 ml white wine (⅖ cup)
- 100 gr butter (½ cup)
- 60 gr parmesan cheese (½ cup)
- 0,26 gr saffron (a pinch)
- Salt
- Pepper
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Rice
First things first: we want our risotto to be creamy and well cooked! For this, the kind of rice we will choose matters a lot. We will need Carnaroli rice, it is quite easy to find. If you are lucky and you can get your hands on a Vialone Nano rice, that’s excellent too. These types of rice release just the right amount of starch during cooking, and this helps the creamy texture to come to life: butter and parmesan cheese will take cae of the rest.
Broth
We will need to have boiling hot salted broth. The traditional recipe calls for meat broth, but a vegetable one will work just as good, in case you are vegetarian.
Are you as lazy as I am? You don’t have enough time to wait three hours for the broth to be ready? You can use a bouillon cube. Just boil 1,5 L of water and add the bouillon cube directly to the rice right after adding the first ladleful of water.
Parmesan Cheese
For this recipe you can either use parmesan cheese or grana padano cheese. Yes, there is a difference. They are both delicious, but usually grana padano is less crumbly and sweeter, while parmesan cheese needs more time to mature, and usually has a stronger flavour.
Saffron
For this recipe I used the powder, but if you have saffron threads, you can use that, but you have to soak it for 10/15 minutes in about 2 tablespoons of warm water or broth. This process helps to release the color and flavor of the saffron. At the end of the recipe add the water and the threads too. Since saffron has a very strong flavor, a pinch of it will be enough for our recipe.
Tips
There are a few tricks to follow in order for your risotto to have the right texture, and some things to be aware of before preparing this recipe:
- The broth must be hot before adding it to the rice. If you use cold broth every time you will add a ledelful of it to the rice it will stop cooking while the broth heats up.
- There are different schools of thought about how to prepare a good risotto. I will explain you how my family prepares it since time immemorial: add broth slowly an keep on mixing well is key!
- Make sure to use white wine, if you add red wine it will change the final color of the risotto, and it would be a real shame to lose that vibrant yellow.
- To obrain its creamy texture we will have to take some final steps, but before you will have to turn the heat off. Otherwise the risotto will keep on cooking, and you want your rice to be al dente!
Step by Step Recipe
- While our broth is heating up, you can chop the onion in small pieces and put it in a pan, with the oil (if you prefer to use a pot, you can, no worries). When the onion is golden and soft, add the rice and mix it until it becomes golden too. Be careful not to burn it.
- Now add the wine and make sure to cook it on high heat for a few minutes. Use your nose: when the smell of the alcohol will be gone, you can take the next step.
- When the alcohol will evaporate, you can add a ladelful of broth to the pan, and begin to mix it with love. You will notice that the rice will begin to absorb the water. When almost all the water will be gone, add more broth. You will have to repeat this procedure until the rice is ready.
- After 10 minutes, taste the rice to understand if you need to add some salt. After more or less 15/20 minutes, the rice will be cooked. Cooking time depends on the type of rice, but it should be soft with a slight bite in the center.
- Once the rice is ready, turn off the heat. There should still be some broth in the pan, but not so much as to cover the rice. Now it is time to create the creamy texture. Add the saffron, the butter and the parmesan cheese to the pan and mix it for a couple of minutes, and look at the magic happen. Now you can serve your risotto with a dash of pepper and some more cheese on top, if you feel like it.
Are you looking for other risotto or pasta recipes? I got you!
Recipe Card
Creamy Saffron Risotto
Ingredients
- 400 gr Carnaroli rice (2 cups)
- 1,5 L broth (50 oz)
- ¼ big onion
- 5 tbsp olive oil
- 100 ml white wine (⅖ cup)
- 100 gr butter (½ cup)
- 60 gr parmesan cheese (½ cup)
- 0,26 gr saffron (a pinch)
- Salt
- Pepper
Instructions
- Heat up the broth, in the meantime chop the onion in small pieces and put it in a pan, with the oil.
- When the onion is golden and soft, add the rice and mix it until it becomes golden too.
- Now add the wine and make sure to cook it on high heat for a few minutes.
- When the alcohol will evaporate, add a ladelful of broth to the pan, and begin to mix it.. When almost all the water will be gone, add more broth. You will have to repeat this procedure until the rice is ready.
- After 10 minutes, taste the rice to understand if you need to add some salt. After more or less 15/20 minutes, the rice will be cooked. Cooking time depends on the type of rice, but it should be soft with a slight bite in the center.
- Once the rice is ready, turn off the heat. There should still be some broth in the pan, but not so much as to cover the rice.
- Add the saffron, the butter and the parmesan cheese to the pan and mix it for a couple of minutes, and look at the magic happen. Now you can serve your risotto with a dash of pepper and some more cheese on top, if you feel like it.
May I tempt you? Here you can find other Italian classics!
FAQs
Can I use any type of rice?
Unfortunately it would be ideal to use a kind of rice that releases enough starch, without becoming sticky. The final result should be a creamy texture and the rice should be al dente, cooked but still firm when bitten. Not all types of rice would be compatible with this recipe. Basmati rice or Japanese glutinous rice would not work for a risotto. Carnaroli rice or Vialone Nano are the best, even if the latter might be a bit difficult to find out of Italy.
Did I forget something? Don’t be shy and ask in the comments!
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