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Pasta, rice and grains

Risotto alla parmigiana

Northern Italian rice cooked slowly in broth, then beaten with butter and Parmigiano Reggiano.

Risotto alla parmigiana is the plainest risotto: short-grain rice toasted in butter, cooked by adding hot broth a ladle at a time, and finished with butter and a large amount of grated Parmigiano Reggiano. It is a base for many other risottos in northern Italy, and is served on its own as a first course.

What goes in

Parmigiano Reggiano: 17%17%Carnaroli or Arborio rice: 30%30%Hot broth: 35%35%Butter: 9%9%Onion: 4%Dry white wine: 4%6parts
  • Parmigiano Reggiano417%, Beaten in at the end.
  • Carnaroli or Arborio rice730%, Short-grain, starchy.
  • Hot broth835%, Chicken, meat or vegetable.
  • Butter29%, To start and finish.
  • Onion14%, Finely chopped.
  • Dry white wine14%, Optional splash.

Rough parts by weight. The ring shows each ingredient's share of the dish.

Made step by step

Each drawing shows the operation for that step. Quantities and timings differ from house to house; this is one traditional way, in outline.

  1. Step 1: Fry Soften the onion in butter without browning.
  2. Step 2: Fry Add the rice and toast it until the grains turn translucent at the edges.
  3. Step 3: Simmer Add wine, let it evaporate, then add hot broth a ladle at a time.
  4. Step 4: Simmer Stir often and keep adding broth until the rice is just tender.
  5. Step 5: Melt Take off the heat and beat in cold butter and grated Parmigiano.
  6. Step 6: Rest Cover and rest for a minute or two, then serve on flat plates.
  7. Parmigiano Reggiano: 17%17%Carnaroli or Arborio rice: 30%30%Hot broth: 35%35%Butter: 9%9%Onion: 4%Dry white wine: 4%
    Finished Risotto alla parmigiana, by share.

The rice country

Rice has been grown in the Po valley since the fifteenth century, especially around Vercelli, Novara and Pavia. Risotto developed in Lombardy and Piedmont as a way to cook the local short-grain varieties so they release starch. The famous saffron risotto of Milan, risotto alla milanese, is a close relative and also finished with Parmigiano and butter.

Mantecatura

The final step is called mantecatura. Off the heat, cold butter and grated cheese are beaten into the rice until it becomes creamy and flows in a slow wave across the plate, which Italians call all'onda. The rice should still have a slight bite. Grana Padano is often used instead of Parmigiano in Lombardy, and both are aged hard cow's milk cheeses.

Where it is used

First courseFamily supper

The cheeses in it

Grana PadanoCommon in Lombardy.ParmesanA hard, granular cow's-milk cheese aged at least a year in northern Italy.

Also part of it, and being written: Parmigiano Reggiano (The defining cheese.).

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Sources and further reading

About this page

Original text and drawings by the EveryCheese desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. The shares are a rough, illustrative ratio, not a recipe: every family and kitchen makes it differently. If we have something wrong, tell us.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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