A wide, heavy pot is best for making risotto alla Parmigiana. I used a Staub “Everyday” pan measuring 14 inches/35 cm across. You also need a small saucepan to heat the broth, a ladle, and an implement to stir the risotto. I use a wooden spoon.

Heat the broth to a low simmer in the saucepan.

Now pour in the olive oil and add the butter to the wide pot. The bottom of the pan should be generously coated. Add more oil/butter if needed. Turn the heat to medium low.

Once the olive oil and butter are warmed/melted, add the shallot and garlic. They should cook without browning; you want them to become translucent. Elizabeth David called this “melting.” Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring.

Now add the rice and the wine. Stir continuously, coating the rice in the olive oil/butter mixture. The wine should be completely absorbed by the rice. If the wine just sits there, turn the heat up a bit.

When you can make a track through the rice with your spoon, start adding broth, a ladleful at a time. Add enough broth to “feed” the risotto without swamping it. If you were to stick your index finger into the risotto after a ladle of broth, the liquid level should reach just above your index fingernail.

This is approximate.

Stir gently. Constant stirring isn’t necessay, but hang around. Don’t get distracted by social media and allow the rice to dry out in the pan. (It’s easy to do this. Ask me how I know.) Each time you can make a track in the rice without liquid filling it in, add another ladle of broth. Keep it up until the rice is done, which takes 20-35 minutes, depending on your rice. After 20 minutes or so, start tasting.

The rice is done when it’s soft but still has a bit of “bite” at its core. This doesn’t mean unpleasantly chewy. It means not cooked to into mush.

Once the rice is close to done, stir in the cheese. Taste for salt and pepper. White pepper is nice for appearances, but not necessary. You may want to add more cheese; the amount given above is a matter of taste.

Add a final ladle of broth. At this point the risotto can sit for 45 minutes if necessary. Purists will shriek, but reality means food must wait sometimes.

If your risotto must sit, add two ladles of broth (or water, if the broth is used up), cover the pan with a lid or foil and leave it over lowest possible heat. The pan may also be put in the oven; use the lowest setting.

Serve risotto alla Parmagiana in shallow bowls. Pass extra cheese at the table. A green salad is all you need with the rice, though some people like crusty bread, too.

Refrigerate leftover risotto quickly. Rice is not a good keeper: finish your risotto within two days or so. Freezing is not recommended.

Notes:

Entire books are devoted to rice. Suffice to say Carnaroli and Arborio are the most common types of risotto rice. Vialone Nano is also popular. I use Carnaroli most often.

Homemade chicken broth is obviously the best option, but if that’s not going to happen, buy the best quality broth you can afford. Now is the time for those twee bone broths I’m always mocking. Be sure to purchase a low-salt variety: Parmesan cheese is very salty. You want control over the salt levels here.

I am married to an onion hater, and used one shallot lobe in the risotto. Feel free to use scallions, a small onion, or whatever allium you prefer, and more of it.

If you run out of broth before the risotto is finished cooking, top up with water. If you have leftover broth, refrigerate it up to five days. After that, it may be frozen up to three months.

Refrigerate leftover rice immediately. Room temperature rice spoils quickly and can make you and yours sick.

As noted in the post, risotto may be prepared halfway, spread out on a baking sheet, cooled, and refrigerated until you are ready to finish cooking. This tip comes from Anthony Bourdain’s Les Halles Cookbook.

Readers interested in rice in general and risotto in particular are directed to Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid’s Seductions of Rice, Marcella Hazan’s Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, Sri Owen’s The Rice Book, and Judy Rogers’s The Zuni Cafe Cookbook, which devotes a section to risotto making.