Chapter 6 · Risotto e Riso

Three risotti, and every one of them built the traditional way -- rice toasted dry, then coaxed along with warm broth a ladle at a time, stirred more or less constantly, until the starch itself becomes the sauce. If you've read the tips earlier in this book, you already know there's a faster method that rinses the rice first and adds the starch back at the end. It works. It is also not what happens in this kitchen, and these three recipes assume you're doing it the slow way, the way my mother insists is the only correct one.

• Risotto alla Milanese This is properly a side dish, meant to sit beside ossobuco, though we serve it on its own more often than not -- a full plate of saffron risotto has never once needed an… ◆ includes a story from the dining room
• Risotto ai Funghi Porcini Dried porcini, not fresh, and don't let anyone tell you this is a compromise -- drying concentrates a mushroom's flavor rather than diminishing it, and the soaking water… ◆ includes a story from the dining room
• Risotto alla Zucca This is the risotto that shows up the moment the weather turns, without anyone actually deciding it should -- my mother simply starts making it again once the squash at… ◆ includes a story from the dining room