I remember when the risotto craze hit Stateside in the mid 80s. Everybody was putting some kind of risotto dish on their menu. Risotto saw more improvisation and crazy presentations than Ceasar Salad, if that's possible. I know, I was caught up in it making my own wild recipes including a "My Bloody Valentine's Day" risotto finished with roasted red beets which gave the dish an unsual magenta hue. When the dust settled and I got over the novelty of the dish, I actually took the time to learn about it, and more importantly, how to prepare it properly.
Risotto is a very specific rice dish made with a special type of rice and prepared in a specific way. The presentations can change but the preparation can't or it won't be risotto. The grains of rice themselves are different from say, long grain rice in that they are composed of two different types of starch. Amylose is the soft starch that forms the outside of the rice kernel. Amylopectin is the hard starch that resists breaking down during cooking and is the heart of the rice kernel. The three most common types of rice, and they are all Italian, are: Arborio, Carnaroli, and Vialone Nano. Arborio is probably the easiest to find but it is the lowest in Amylopectin and so requires the most vigilant preparation so that it is not overcooked and mushy.
The technique involved is as important as the type of rice used. Most importantly, the rice must be stirred constantly while being cooked and hot/nearly boiling liquid added to it in increments. This guarantees the soft starch will be worn away and give the dish its wonderful creamy consistency without the addition of cream or other dairy products. I have seen countless recipes claim the dish can be prepared by steaming the rice, using a pressure cooker, even (GASP!) a microwave. Tin fiddles and snake oil I say, those short cuts can't yield the same dish.
Now let me get off my soap box and share one of my favorite risotto presentations.
Risotto with Shrimp, Leeks, Tomato, and Saffron
Most risotto dishes begin with a base of sauteed aromatics, i.e. onion, garlic, in this case leeks, etc.. This is called a soffrito.
-½ cup EVOO
-2 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced thin
-2 whole leeks trimmed, halved, washed, and sliced very thin
Saute the garlic and leeks in the EVOO, slowly in a covered 5qt heavy bottomed pot with a little pinch of sea salt. Cook those until they are translucent and tender.
Next you need to start heating your cooking liquid.
Steep 10 threads of good quality saffron in 1 cup of white wine for 15 mins and strain out the threads.
For your cooking liquid you can use:
-water (easy but not recommended. I would put a bouillon cube in plain water before using plain water.)
-diluted chicken stock
-shrimp stock (really easy to make ~ boil shrimp shells in water for 10 mins. Strain)
For this recipe you should have about 2 quarts of cooking liquid. If you use stock and run short at the end of the cooking process, just add water to the hot liquid. You'll get enough flavor from the 2 quarts of stock if you choose to start with that. Heat the liquid to a near boil and keep it there.
Add 2 cups of one of the above mentioned rice varieties to the pot and raise the heat slightly. Stir the rice and saute it just long enough to toast the grains. Add in the saffron infused wine and stir constantly until the liquid is almost completely absorbed. When the wine is almost gone, ladle in about 2 ounces of the hot cooking liquid and again stir until almost gone. Continue this process until half the liquid is gone.
Add in a drained 14 ounce can of diced plum tomato and stir that in. Continue the stir/add liquid process until the stock is almost gone. Check the rice for doneness by biting a kernel. It should be soft with a little firm resistance at the center. Check the seasoning also and adjust with a little sea salt if necessary.
Add in about a pound of small peeled and deveined shrimp (21/25 count). Add in another ladle of the cooking liquid, stir, and cover the pot to let the shrimp cook just done! Serve immediately so the shrimp and rice don't overcook.
Garnish with a good finishing quality EVOO. Dairy and seafood is usually an Italian no no, so forego the cheese for this dish unless you just don't care.
That my children, is risotto.
There are many options for the wine choice here. The obvious would seem to be a white like maybe a Vernaccia like the Mormoraia Vernaccia di San Gimignano. You would be looking to match the acidity of the tomatoes and aromatic qualities of the saffron, but not overwhelm the shrimp. Besides you used white wine in the dish, so there is a valid logic to drinking a white. I, on the otherhand, don't like to go with convention so I would probably choose a medium to light bodied red like a Bourgogne Rouge, lighter styled Pinot Noir, or Dolcetto. The ultimate compromise?.....rose! Parusso Nebbiolo Langhe Rosato 2010 meets all the requirements from above and is a truly cool wine being made from 100% Nebbiolo. It has the stuffing to assert itself and yet does so in a way that really compliments this dish.
So you see, sometimes there is no valid shortcut. You can't achieve the desired results by cheating on the method. Resistance is futile. You just have to go with the grain.
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