Saffron risotto or Milanese risotto, the recipe

Il risotto allo zafferano o alla milanese, la ricetta

Saffron risotto or Milanese risotto, the recipe.
Every now and then I love to enjoy a plate of saffron risotto and some time ago, the Chef on board, satisfied me with this dish!
Saffron risotto, also known as Milanese risotto, is one of the symbolic dishes of Lombard cuisine and the city of Milan. This delicacy, characterized by its intense yellow color and rich and creamy flavor, is perfect for delighting the palate on special occasions or simply to pamper yourself with a traditional dish. Let's see together how to prepare it.

Ingredients (for 4 people):

– 320 g of Carnaroli or Arborio rice;
– 1 l of meat broth (preferably beef);
– 1 small onion;
– 1 sachet of saffron (about 0.15 g);
– 50 g of butter;
– 50 g of grated Parmigiano Reggiano;
– 1 glass of dry white wine;
– 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil;
– Salt to taste;
– Black pepper to taste (optional).

Preparation

First, prepare the broth, if possible, homemade with beef, celery, carrot and onion. Alternatively, you can use ready-made meat broth or a stock cube dissolved in hot water.
Then finely chop the onion. In a large, low saucepan, melt half the butter together with the extra virgin olive oil. Add the chopped onion and let it soften over low heat, stirring occasionally, until it becomes transparent.
Add the rice to the saucepan with the onion and toast it for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly. This step is essential to seal the grain and keep it al dente during cooking. Add the white wine and let the alcohol evaporate, continuing to stir.
Once the wine has evaporated, start adding the hot broth a ladle at a time, stirring frequently. Wait for the broth to be absorbed before adding the next ladle.
After about 10 minutes of cooking, dissolve the saffron in a ladle of hot broth and add it to the risotto. Continue cooking, adding broth until the rice is al dente (about 18-20 minutes in total).
When the risotto is cooked to perfection, remove it from the heat. Add the remaining butter and the grated Parmigiano Reggiano. Stir vigorously to blend the risotto, obtaining a creamy and smooth consistency.
Taste and adjust the salt, if necessary. If desired, add a sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper.
Let the risotto rest for a couple of minutes before serving. Divide it among the plates and, if you like, decorate with a few saffron pistils.
Tips.
Quality of ingredients: using high-quality ingredients, especially rice, broth and Parmigiano Reggiano, will make the difference in the final result.
Consistency in cooking: continuously stirring the risotto during cooking helps to release the starch from the rice, giving the dish its characteristic creaminess.
Variation: for an extra touch of flavour, you can add beef marrow to the onion during the sautéing phase, following the Milanese tradition.
Saffron risotto is a dish that combines simplicity and refinement, capable of conquering even the most demanding palates. Enjoy your meal!

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Photo taken with Honor 20.

Risotto alla Milanese (also called yellow rice and saffron risotto, ris sgiald or risot a la milanesa in the Lombard language) is, together with cotoletta alla Milanese and panettone, the most typical and well-known dish of Milan. It is a risotto whose main ingredients, in addition to those needed to prepare a white risotto, are saffron, from which its characteristic yellow color derives, and beef marrow. It can also be served as a side dish for ossobuco, another typical Milanese dish.
Continue and learn more on Wikipedia

Saffron or Milanese risotto, the recipe – Risotto au safran ou milanais, la recette – Risotto al azafrán o milanesa, la receta – Risoto de açafrão ou milanês, a receita – Safran- oder Mailänder Risotto, das Rezept – Công thức nấu món risotto nghệ tây hoặc Milanese

The text of the post was written with the help of ChatGPT, a language model from OpenAI.

Braised veal milanese style, the recipe

Ossobuchi alla milanese

Ossobuchi alla milanese, the recipe.
This morning I stopped by Alfredo, my trusted butcher. Alfredo is an old-fashioned butcher: he has a counter that seems rather poor but everything is stored in the refrigerator to maintain the right humidity and temperature; just ask and Alfredo brings out the most beautiful cuts from the cell…
This morning, unusually, he had a beautiful piece of veal shank* on display, from which I had three splendid ossobuco cut, with which I prepared my dish: ossobuchi with saffron risotto and gremolada**
As a procedure, I floured the ossobuchi and fried them over a high heat to close all the pores and prevent the meat juices from coming out.
In a terracotta saucepan I fried an onion and a clove of garlic, added the ossobuchi and let it heat up. I then added a few pieces of carrot, potatoes and courgettes, moistened with red wine and started cooking over a low heat.
In the meantime, separately, I calmly prepared the base for the risotto, chopping a little onion, heating a small pan of good meat broth and melting the saffron in water. I added a little tomato paste to the ossobuco and cooked them slowly, always checking that the meat was tender and the vegetables were well cooked. When cooking was almost finished, I added a little coarse salt (I always try to be careful with the salt).
Then I started cooking the rice, frying the onion in a little olive oil, adding the rice which, once toasted, I moistened with a little white wine. Once the wine had evaporated, I added the hot broth (by now I know the quantities and I manage, after a little light stirring, not to continue moving the rice which cooks slowly, moving on its own thanks to the boiling liquids). When cooking was almost finished, I added the saffron and, when cooking was finished, I stirred it with a piece of butter but I didn't add cheese, which for me, alters the flavor of the saffron.
Then I prepared the dish with the risotto, the ossobuco which I moistened with its sauce and I added the gremolata. All done…

Enjoy your meal!!!
Add your own comment or go to the bottom of the site to read what other visitors have written.

Ossobuchi alla milanese

Ossobuchi alla milanese

Photo taken with Canon EOS M100 and lens Canon EF-M 22.

* veal is the meat usually used for this dish because it is more tender but the important thing is that it comes from the rear because it is less fibrous and larger in diameter. I used veal: I knew where it came from and the choice proved me right.
** gremolada is a very simple sauce made by chopping lemon peel without the white part, garlic and parsley and is used to flavor the ossobuco

Note: As always, the quality of the raw materials is essential: first of all, you need to choose the quality of the meat well, if necessary, ordering it from your trusted butcher, asking specifically that it be from behind. Also important is the quality of the wines to soak the meat and rice.

Ossobuco alla milanese, the recipe – Ossobuco à la milanaise, la recette – Ossobuco a la milanesa, la receta – Ossobuco panado, a receita – Ossobuco Mailänder Art, das Rezept – Công thức theo phong cách Ossobuco Milanese