Saffron Risotto

Posted on May 2, 2015 by Full Of Daisies

The technique to make risotto is always the same. I’ll repeat it here in brief, but if you want a more detailed account you can see my first post on risotto ^_*

Traditional saffron risotto, called Risotto allo Zafferano, or Risotto alla Milanese was already known during the middle ages in both arab and jewish cuisine, but was officially born in Milan on the 8th of September 1574. This belgian glass-blower, Valerio di Fiandra, had organised a spectacular wedding for his daughter that day and the plate was created more as a play on colour and aesthetics than anything else. However the taste was so good and the guests so satisfied that it soon began creeping into the cucina milanese and…the rest is history.

Now this recipe is a bit different than the one you can find in restaurants in Italy – mine has bacon. But then again, why not? I like it without, but the bacon gives the risotto a whole other level that no other protein can give… if not maybe bone marrow. I say bone marrow because I just read the recipe for Risotto alla Milanese in every Italian chef’s bible: La Scienza in Cucina e l’Arte di Mangiare Bene by Pellegrino Artusi, written in 1891. He uses exactly my same ingredients, substituting only the bacon (which maybe hadn’t been invented yet, as such!) with bone marrow. So there.

The only prepping you will need to do for this recipe is chopping up the onion and bacon, heating some stock (or water, if you’re adding a bouillon cube at the beginning like I do) and measuring the rice. Since the saffron and bacon aren’t as substantial as, say, pumpkin and sausage, I’d recommend about 80/100gr of rice per person. If you want the guests to be happy. Also, I used one store-bought bouillon cube in this recipe for four people. FYI.