Risotto Stories: A Tale of Two Methods (and a Cook-Along!)

Join me on Sunday March 16th, 2025. We will cook a classic squash and saffron risotto and an artichoke risotto with the pressure cooker.

The first time I made risotto, I was nineteen, standing in a small kitchen in Padua, a wooden spoon in my hand, and a retired art professor watching over my shoulder.

Fresh out of high school, I spent a month harvesting grapes on a nearby farm to earn my first money, bought a jacket I’m still very proud of with my first paycheck, and booked a train to Padua to spend a long weekend with my grandmother’s cousin, Massimo—an uncle I had met for the first time just a couple of weeks earlier.

His wife, Anna, a retired art professor, took good care of me during that short holiday. She made sure I got plenty of rest, handed me a book on Giotto to read on her rocking chair before we visited the Cappella degli Scrovegni together, brought me to the city center for an espresso and a little meringue with cream at Caffè Pedrocchi—the most beautiful café in Padua—and taught me how to make risotto while standing by my side at the stove.

Growing up in the ‘80s with a working mum, risotto was often hastily stirred in a pot with hot water, but it came from a store-bought bag. In spring, my grandmother would often make something reminiscent of an artichoke risotto, but it was usually quite dense, and she would simply call it riso coi carciofi—rice with artichokes.

Of course, I had eaten risotto before and had even cooked it a few times, but it always turned out stodgy.

In Padua, in the land of risotto, I finally grasped a couple of secrets that still help me whenever I’m coddling a risotto on the stove.

There are two factions: those who believe risotto should be coddled on the stove, gradually adding stock as the rice grains absorb it, becoming plump; and those who maintain that you should add enough stock to cook the rice and touch it as little as possible, releasing the starch only in the final mantecatura—the creaming of the rice with butter and Parmigiano.

I see the advantages of the latter, but since that day in Padua, I’ve been a firm believer in gently coaxing out flavor and creaminess in a risotto by standing at the stove, adding stock, and gently stirring the rice with a wooden spoon. And the reason is purely psychological: I find it relaxing, and I love being in control of something I know will turn out to be outstanding. 

I feel responsible for the outcome and proud of the creaminess of its texture—a sign that you’ve succeeded. As Elizabeth David wrote in her A book of Mediterranean food

it should be creamy, homogeneous, but on no account reduced to porridge. One must be able to taste each grain of rice although it is not separated as in pilaff.

I tried to summarize everything I know about risotto in this archive podcast episode of Cooking with an Italian Accent.

The pressure cooker is the only exception to my rule.

Fifteen years ago, when I first read about making risotto in a pressure cooker on Italian blogs, I was outraged—how dare they? Then, about a year ago, while trying to cut down on electricity costs, I thought I’d give it a try. I was surprised by how creamy, light… PERFECT! that risotto was. It has become my go-to risotto method, especially for busy weeknight meals.

This Sunday, for the monthly cook along, we will talk about all things risotto, and I’ll be sharing two recipes: a classic, comforting squash and saffron risotto made traditionally in a saucepan with a wooden spoon, and a new take on risotto with artichokes, made in a pressure cooker.

Sunday Cook-Along: two recipes for risotto

Join me online this Sunday, March 16th, at 8:00 PM CEST | 3:00 PM EDT | 12:00 PM PDT for a special cook-along reserved for all paid subscribers dedicated to risotto. We will be making a risotto with squash and saffron in the classic way, and a risotto with artichokes in the pressure cooker.

Risotto is a great weeknight recipe: learn how to make it according to the season to have a delicious, quick, Italian-inspired meal.

A recording of the class will be available for all paid subscribers after the event. The recorded videos will always be available here on Substack: we’re slowly building an archive of video recipes you can access whenever you need to refresh your technique to make orecchiette, tortelli, tagliatelle, or ricotta gnocchi.

This newsletter is a love letter to risotto—the ritual, the texture, the patience. Whether you’re a stirrer or a hands-off cook, I hope you’ll join me this Sunday to share a bowl of risotto, whichever method you choose!

Let me know in the comments if you’ll be there.

(All the recipes, ingredient lists, the Cook-Along Working Sheet, and the link to join the session are available exclusively for paid subscribers behind the paywall.)

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