The cooking section in my library always fascinates me because you never know what you will find there. Today I found a great book "Rice" by Christine Ingram, and was inspired to make a risotto dish. Sadly, after picking up the ingredients, I discovered that the only rice in the house was a medium grain Calrose variety. The grains get moist and tender, but are not too starchy and hold together during cooking. The traditional rice for cooking a risotto is the short, plump Arborio variety. This grain has a firm inner starch called amylose that holds together while the outer starch, amylopectin, disolves during cooking giving the risotto a creamy texture. The trip to the library had already paid off.
Adapted from Biba Caggiano's "Biba's Northern Italian Cooking".
Fill a small saucepan one-third full with water. Bring water to a boil. Add a halved carrot and celery stalk. Cook over medium heat until barely tender, then finely chop.
Heat 7 cups of chicken broth in a medium saucepan and keep hot over low heat.
Melt 4 tablespoons of the butter in a large saucepan. When butter foams, add onion. Today I cut up a couple of shallots. Saute over medium heat until onion becomes translucent. Add 2 1/2 cups of rice and mix well. When rice is coated with butter, add 3/4 cups of white wine. Cook, stirring constantly, until the wine has evaporated.
Mix in 1 to 2 ladles of broth, or enough to cover the rice. Stir over medium heat until the broth had been absorbed. Continue cooking and stirring rice, adding broth a little at a time until rice is almost done, 10 to 15 minutes.
Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a medium skillet. Add 1/4 pound of mushrooms. Saute until golden. Add sauteed mushrooms, 6 ounces of diced, frozen spinach, carrot, celery, parsley, 1/2 pound of prosciutto, and 1/3 cup of whipping cream to rice mixture. Mix well and season with salt.
Cook about 5 minutes longer. When rice is tender but firm to the bite, stir in 1/2 cup of the parmesan cheese and remaining 1 tablespoon of butter. Place in a warm dish. Serve immediately with the remaining parmesan cheese.
