Risotto Milanese

Here's the nth time I've tried making risotto from the Joy of Cooking. I must say that I really dislike the way instructions are written for a lot of their recipes. I think I finally have the order of operations down for this rice dish. Saffron can easily be one of the most expensive spice to get, but it doesn't have to cost more than all other ingredients in the dish. I used Mexican saffron which still imparts the same warm yellowish coloring to the rice, and has a lightly fragrant scent. Currently, I'm cooking for one, so the list below reflects that. The JoC recipe uses a pound of arborio rice which I don't see myself consuming all at once or even for leftovers. Also, my version doesn't add grated Parmesan cheese. I like Parmesan cheese, but oddly, only on spaghetti sauce. Risotto can be heated up as leftovers, but it isn't as tasty as other types of rice. 

Total cook/prep time is 30 minutes. 

The ingredients & directions: 

1. In a small saucepan, bring to boil 1 cup of chicken broth and a generous pinch of saffron threads. Remove from heat and set aside. 

2. In a large saucepan, heat 2 tbsp EVOO and add your optional ingredients. Today I used diced carrots instead of mushrooms, but you can also use fennel, rosemary, garlic, etc. Let the carrots sweat in the oil until partly cooked but not tender. 

2a. Remove carrots to a bowl and reserve. You don't want them cooking the entire time since they will get mushy. 

2b. In a separate pot, heat 4 cups of chicken stock and set aside. 

2c. Add 2 tbsp butter to the saucepan, 1 clove minced garlic, and heat until the oil is fragrant. Add 1 cup of arborio rice and stir until combined. Raise heat to medium. Add chicken stock, one cup at a time until it has been absorbed by the rice. Add the carrots, salt, and freshly ground black pepper. 

2d. Add the saffron-chicken stock to the rice and stir until the excess liquid has been absorbed. Turn off heat and serve. 

 Ingredient summary: 

1 c. chicken stock 1 generous pinch of saffron threads 

2 tbsp EVOO 

1 medium organic carrot, diced 

2 cloves garlic, minced 1 c. arborio rice 

2 tbsp unsalted butter 

4 c. chicken stock, hot 

salt & pepper to taste 

A pepper note: I don't have ground white pepper in my kitchen pantry. It's used in so few recipes that I know of that I only have black pepper available. If you don't want to see little black specks in your risotto, by all means, use ground white pepper.