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Carolina Gold Risotto

A side dish that knows no peers.
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difficulty:
yield:

About 4 cups
time:

20 minutes to prep, 30 minutes to cook

Prosciutto and sweet peas brightened with grated lemon zest bring risotto to the level of a stand-alone second course. Prepare the recipe below, adding 1 ounce (¼ cup) diced prosciutto to the shallots as they sauté. Stir 3 ounces (about ½ cup) thawed frozen peas and scant 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest into the finished risotto.\r\n

introduction

Without question, the most aristocratic of all grain dishes, risotto becomes seductive the moment the wine sizzles onto melted shallots, and it never lets go. Anson Mills Carolina Gold Rice creates risotto with the same melodic flair as the very best imported Arborio.

Cooking Remarks

Risotto is a world-class dish that demands world-class ingredients. That means rich homemade chicken broth, wine you wouldn’t mind drinking, and real Parmesan—the stuff that is aged and has to be grated by hand. The chicken broth’s rate of evaporation and the subsequent swelling of the rice grains also depend on the cook’s patience and a saucepan with correct proportions (but not in that order).

Watch the salt level if you’re cooking with commercial chicken broth. 

equipment mise en place

For this recipe, you will need a small heavy-bottomed saucepan for the broth, a heavy-bottomed 3-quart saucepan for the rice, a wooden spoon, and a 6- or 8-ounce ladle.

    • 3½
      cups Rich Homemade Chicken Stock or, if you must, one 32-ounce carton low-sodium chicken broth

    • 2
      tablespoons unsalted butter
    • 3
      shallots, minced (about ⅓ cup)

    • 7
      ounces (1 cup) Anson Mills Carolina Gold Rice

    • ½
      cup dry white wine or vermouth

    • 1
      tablespoon minced fresh thyme

    • 1
      Turkish bay leaf

    • Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
    • 2
      ounces (½ cup) finely grated Parmesan Reggiano
  1.  

    Heat the chicken stock in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan until it simmers. Pull the saucepan to the outer periphery of the burner, or, if your range is electric, lower the heat setting and keep the stock just below a simmer throughout cooking.

  2.  

    Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed 3-quart saucepan over low heat until it foams. Add the shallots and sauté, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the shallots are translucent and have nearly melted into the butter, about 5 minutes. Add the rice, increase the heat to medium, and sauté, stirring, until the grains are coated with butter and have turned opaque, about 2 minutes.

  3.  

    Add the wine, stir, and reduce to a glaze over medium-low heat. Ladle in 1 cup of hot stock and add the thyme, bay leaf, ½ teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper; stir once to make sure the grains are just covered with liquid. Cook the rice, uncovered, at the barest simmer, until the liquid has nearly evaporated and the rice begins to look dry. Add another ladle of hot stock. Continue to cook the risotto in this fashion, adding stock as needed, until the rice grains have expanded and no longer have a hard starch center, about 20 minutes. Stir in the Parmesan. The risotto should look creamy but not wet. Taste for seasoning and serve immediately.