How To Cook A Perfect Risotto

Some dishes take more effort than others. While most of us know how to make decent scrambled eggs, acceptable fried rice, and maybe even some edible mac & cheese, risotto is one of those recipes that are on a whole different level. If making such an intricate dish sounds scary to you, take a deep breath. We’re about to show you it can be done even by the most amateur of chefs. While cooking risotto does require a lot of your attention, the whole activity should not take a lot more than half an hour. In fact, Italians say it should not take over 19 minutes to make risotto. But we’ll cut you some slack since it’s probably your first time making it.

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The most important tip we have is to use the right kind of rice. Instead of basmati or jasmine rice, look for arborio or carnaoli. You want the base of your dish to have the perfect texture. Besides the rice, we recommend you prepare all of your ingredients before you start cooking. That is, measure and chop whatever needs to be measured and chopped, and get the bowls you’ll be serving your risotto in.

To ensure the creaminess of your risotto, warm your broth beforehand. The reason this works is that pouring warm broth into warm rice pulls more starch out of each grain of rice and prevents it from overcooking. On the other hand, pouring cold broth into the rice might shock the grains into holding onto its starches while continuing to cook.