Risotto

The aromatic base, or soffritto in Italian cooking, forms the flavor foundation of your risotto. This step determines the underlying character of the finished dish and sets the stage for how all other flavors will develop. The key is gently cooking aromatics until they're translucent and fragrant, then adding wine to deglaze and concentrate flavors before introducing the rice.

Different aromatics create distinctly different flavor profiles, from the clean simplicity of classic onion to the subtle licorice notes of fennel or the luxury of saffron. The wine choice also matters: white wine provides bright acidity that balances the richness to come, while saffron adds both color and distinctive flavor. Understanding these choices helps you create risottos that have clear, intentional flavor direction rather than muddy complexity.

The stock provides both the cooking liquid and background flavor that supports your finishing ingredients. The key principle is matching stock intensity with finish intensity: delicate vegetables pair with light stocks, while robust ingredients need richer stocks. The finishing technique, called mantecatura, involves vigorously stirring in final ingredients off the heat to create the signature creamy texture through emulsification.

Understanding starch release is crucial to this part—the rice gradually gives up its starch to the warm stock through gentle stirring, creating natural creaminess. The finishing ingredients are added after cooking when the rice is perfectly tender but still has bite. This timing preserves delicate textures and bright flavors while allowing the mantecatura technique to bind everything into a cohesive, flowing consistency that defines great risotto.