Stirring Moments: Risotto in Springtime

Risotto is a dish that can wake the emotions and calm the mind. A bowl of steaming, creamy grains speckled with new-crop flavors, enriched with aged cheese has a certain “ah-h-h” factor. Like spring itself, it elicits a sense of ease and well-being. Risotto does this for me not just when I eat it but when I prepare it. It’s wind-down cooking: As I line up ingredients on the countertop—rice, wine, broth, Parmesan—I gain focus. I chop shallots and melt butter. I stir the rice. I pour a glass of Chardonnay and stir a little more. I set the table, toss a salad and stir. For me, risotto isn’t a recipe, it’s a practice, one that gives the day legroom, helps me be here now.

Plush and soothing at any time of year, risotto is particularly welcome on a rain-chilled day in spring. We get plenty of those in Wisconsin, of course, which means you should serve it often. And don’t worry, despite relatively limited options at early-season farmers markets, you won’t run out of variations. I can’t think of a northern spring-season ingredient that doesn’t go well in risotto. Asparagus, spinach, peas. Ramps, morels, watercress. Fresh herbs. Fresh eggs. All manner of wild and cultivated greens.

Risotto recipes are guides, not exact science. Start with flavored fat—onions cooked in butter, shallots in olive oil, or similar—and then add a starchy, rounded, short-grain rice like Arborio, coating it in the seasoned fat to foil mushiness and to flavor each grain. Now, for another flavor dimension, splash in some dry white wine. Then comes the rice, which slowly, gradually becomes creamy as you stir in hot broth in increments. The age and type of rice affects how much liquid you’ll need. Heat level (not too high), stirring speed (not too fast) and the shape of the pan (deep, and not too wide) influence cooking time. Let the season inspire the vegetable, cheese or other ingredients you fold in, and you’ll have an endless number of risotto variations at your command. Indeed, after you’ve made risotto a few times, you will put away the recipes and the measuring cups. You’ll be in the zone.

These savory variations on the classic risotto are welcome return to the nourishing green foods of spring:

Risotto with Peas, Ramps and Artichoke Hearts

Risotto with Spinach, Green Onions and Chives

Asparagus Dill Risotto with Egg Crumbles (pictured in header)