Risotto with Barolo wine

The recipe of the first typical Piedmontese risotto with Barolo, very  refined and aromatic. You will thus obtain a refined and successful dish, to be served on the occasion of a birthday lunch or a dinner with special guests. I have chosen to stir the risotto with a knob of butter and a generous handful of grated Parmesan. 

It is said that this risotto was one of the favorite dishes of Camillo Benso Count of Cavour... not dumb! Think that in traditional Piedmontese cookbooks there have always been two recipes of risotto with wine: one with "red wine", the other with Barolo. This is because those who produce wines know that a good red wine is one thing, a good Barolo is quite another. In fact, in the kitchen what you use in the recipes you find it in the dishes. So a Barolo risotto should be made with Barolo.

Risotto with Barolo is a delicious first course with an intense taste, typical of Piedmontese cuisine. The protagonist of the recipe is the precious and full-bodied red wine of the Langhe which, thanks to its full and enveloping flavor, will give the dish an unmistakable scent and aroma. To bring it to the table, you will need a few simple ingredients: once the rice has been toasted with a base of oil and shallots, just pour the wine, let it absorb well and then cook everything with the boiling vegetable broth.

There are those who consider it a "waste", there are those who could not do without it, but in both cases we can only agree: it is a delicious risotto. It is the risotto with red wine, an Italian specialty very appreciated and that pleases. It is a very territorial dish, because depending on the region where you eat it, the wine with which you make it also changes. And so in Veneto you come across the Amarone risotto, while in Piedmont we have the Barolo or Barbera risotto, in Tuscany with Chianti or Montepulciano, the Primitivo in Puglia, the Nero D'Avola in Sicily, the Cannonau of Sardinia and so on, depending on the region of belonging will also change the red wine used.

Risotto with red wine: the Veneto one is with Amarone

Amarone della Valpolicella is an excellence of European viticulture. It is a dry red wine of great value with Denomination of Controlled and Guaranteed Origin produced exclusively in the Valpolicella area, in the province of Verona. Obtained from the drying of grapes and aged in barrels, it is in a very long-lived wine. Using it in the kitchen together with another product of excellence of the Verona area which is the Nano Vialone Veronese IGP rice, you get an exquisite risotto that is the main dish of some of the best restaurants in the city of Verona. This risotto with red wine is often paired with radicchio, taleggio, Monte Veronese, rosemary or sausage.

If you do not want to use a bottle of fine Amarone, the alternative, however very appreciated, is to use a Ripasso, also called the small Amarone, or if you want to save money go to a Valpolicella base.

Find out how to prepare Barolo risotto by following step by step procedure and advice. 

Serves 4

320 gr of rice

50 g butter

1 spring onion

350 ml Barolo red wine

600 ml broth

salt

parmesan

PROCEDURE

In a pan, sauté the chopped onion together with half a dose of butter.

Then add the risotto and toast it for a few minutes. Put the wine at this point and let it deglaze over high heat. When the wine has blended, add a ladle of boiling broth at a time and continue cooking. Season with salt and add the remaining butter and Parmesan.

Stir it all up. Serve your risotto with a sprinkling of cheese.

Amarone della Valpolicella Classico 

I attended the “Taste of Veneto” food and wine master class event in Montreal featuring seven wines from this northeast region in Italy. My favourite was this blend of 70% Corvina, 15% Corvinone and 15% Rondinella. With a purple lish color and an explosion of fruits on the palate. 15.5% alcohol.

Situated in the northwest of the city of Verona, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico is considered the top producer of Amarone. These wines are the finest examples of quality Amarone, with decadent flavors of dark fruits, coffee, and chocolate; and are considered among the top wines of Italy.

93/100 by Wine Spectator