Culinary Disasters

This risotto is the classic dish that accompanies osso buco.  After already paying for the veal shanks it won’t kill you to spend the extra cash and get the saffron.  The little bit of investment adds a lot to the dish as a whole. 

For this dish you are going to need:

• 6 cups chicken stock
• 1 teaspoon saffron threads
• 1 medium onion fine dice
• 1 cup arborio rice
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 2 TB unsalted butter (cut into four equal sized pieces)
• 1/2 cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese (keep that Kraft green can crap away from this dish)
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt

 

The first thing you need to do is bring the chicken stock to a boil.  Once it is to a boil, taste it, and if it is tastes good (meaning not spoiled) add in the saffron threads.  Keep the chicken stock at a gentle simmer the entire risotto process.

Put a 12 inch skillet over medium heat, add in a couple TB of olive oil, and add the onion.  Cook the onion till it is soft (about 10 minutes).  Also, make sure the onion does not take on any color.  If it starts to remove the pan from the heat, lower the heat, and readd the pan.  Nothing ruins the appearance of this dish more than browned onion.

After the onion is softened add in the cup of arborio rice and stir for 3 minutes.

Once the rice has been toasted go ahead and add in the wine and about 1/2 cup of the saffron infused chicken stock (do not worry if some of the saffron threads sneak into when adding in the stock).

As the chicken stock is absorbed add in a 1/2 cup of the stock and stir.  You want to keep adding till the rice is tender (you may not use all the stock but nothing is worse than realizing you need more stock and you have none that is warmed up) which should be about 20 minutes.  Once the rice is tender stir in the cheese and stir till it is melted.

After the cheese has melted stir in the butter.

Serve and enjoy.

Tags: Side dish, All //