Spring in Scotland is a mix bag of weather and, consequently, moods. One second seems autumn with fine rain that goes on for hours, then when the sun comes out is fairly warm, sometimes to the point that seems like summer. And the mood change constantly with the weather, at least mine mood!
A good way to improve the mood is by bringing bright colours to the table and today is Risotto giallo. This amazing recipe use saffron to add its bright colour and the delicate flavour.
The recipe is quite simple but require a little bit of stirring, this will make sure that all the starch in the rice is extracted. The final part of the recipe, the “mantecatura”, is very important to make sure that the risotto is creamy and “all’onda” (when you stir it it should make small waves like the water movement in a canal in Venice).
Ingredients
- ½ onion
- 50 g butter
- 340 g Carnaroli or Arborio rice
- ½ glass white wine
- Stock (approximately 1 litre)
- 1 pinch saffron
- grana or Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Finely chop the onion. In a pan put the chopped onion and half of butter and cook it gently for few minutes.
- Then add the rice and roast for 1 or 2 minutes, add the wine and leave it to evaporate.
- Add the stock, one ladle at a time, and cook the rice for about 10 minutes, stirring almost continually.
- Add the saffron at this point and finish cook the rice adding more stock as necessary. Cooking time depends on the quality of rice you are using; usually it is 18 minutes, start after you roast it.
- At the end add the remaining butter, a few spoons of grana, and stir thoroughly.
