Cooking with Wine

In a small saucepan, warm the wine over medium low heat, but do not boil. In a separate saucepan, warm the stock over medium low heat.

Heat a large sauté pan or skillet over medium heat for a minute, then add the olive oil and 2 Tbsp of the butter. Once the butter has melted, add the onion, and cook until the onion just starts to get some browning, stirring frequently – about 1-2 minutes. Once the onion starts to brown, add the rice, and stir to coat with the oil and butter. Cook for about 3 minutes to barely toast the rice.

Next, carefully add about half of the warm wine to the rice. It will steam and bubble immediately. Stir the mixture and let cook for a couple of minutes until most of the wine has been absorbed or evaporates. Add the rest of the wine and, stirring often, cook until most of the wine has been absorbed. Then add a ladle of stock to the rice (one or two at a time), stirring frequently and letting the rice soak up the liquid, scrapping the bottom to ensure the rice doesn't stick. Adjust the heat lower as needed if your liquid is boiling rapidly. Repeat this process until the rice is firm (al dente) but not crunchy. Do not overcook the rice to a mushy, soft consistency. This should be the right amount of stock to yield perfect risotto, but if you run out of stock before you get the rice cooked properly, you can add a little hot water in its place.

Once the rice is done, remove from the heat and stir in the remaining 3 Tbsp of butter, the Parmesan cheese, and a pinch of black pepper. Taste and add kosher salt as needed for seasoning. Sprinkle with a little extra Parmesan if desired and some finely chopped fresh Italian parsley and serve.