STREAMLINED RISOTTO SATISFIES
Veggies add color as pancetta offers salty crunch to rice dish
The day I found out that I didn’t have to stand over the risotto pot, stirring constantly with one hand as I awkwardly ladled in simmering liquid with the other, was the day the rice dish went into my permanent dinner rotation.
Before that, risotto was something I’d trot out when I was trying to impress.
With the rumpled pages of my copy of Marcella Hazan’s “Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking” falling open to page 245 — Risotto With Parmesan Cheese — I heeded the formidable author’s precise instructions.
“You must never stop stirring,” she wrote, explaining that it is through “the gradual administration of small quantities of liquid” that the soft starch of the short-grain rice is able to bind with the broth, creating a satiny sauce.
Dutifully, I stirred, losing hours of my life. When I heard there were risotto rebels who did not abide by constant stirring, I immediately joined their ranks. An occasional vigorous stir, I learned, works perfectly well. So does cooking in a stovetop or electric pressure cooker. And so does baking.
For this vegetable-rich rendition, I add an entire bunch of chard, both stems and leaves. The stems, sliced and sauteed with some shallots, turn sweet and succulent. The chopped leaves are mixed in later, speckling the rice with bits of green. If you can get Swiss chard that’s red, it tints everything gorgeously pink, but Swiss or rainbow chard with stalks of any color will work.
I also threw in pancetta for a salty, brawny crunch. Or you can substitute shiitake or oyster mushrooms, sauteed until crisp. The ingredients in risotto, it turns out, are just as adaptable and forgiving as the cooking method.