Risotto -- 'King of rice dishes'

Basic technique: Risotto is best cooked just before serving. Begin by making the onion base. Melt butter, stir in chopped onion and cook slowly about 5 minutes until the onion is soft and translucent. Bring the broth to a simmer in a separate pot on a secondary burner.

Now to the actual cooking of the risotto. Using a wooden spoon, stir the rice into the butter over medium heat. Use broad strokes, sweeping up the rice from the bottom of the pan. Cook the butter, onion and rice mixture about 3 minutes until you can see a white dot in the center of each grain. Add the wine or other liquid and keep stirring as it is absorbed by the rice.

Then start adding the broth, 1 cup at a time. A long-handled ladle works well. The rice expands as it absorbs the broth, and the friction of the stirring softens the outside of the grains, forming a creamy, almost sauce-like consistency. Each cup of liquid must be absorbed before the next cup is added.

Stir the risotto constantly to keep it from sticking, pulling the rice away to see the bottom of the pan and folding from bottom to top. What is important is never to cook risotto with too much liquid at one time and to wait until each portion is absorbed before adding the next.

The rate at which the broth is absorbed accelerates as the cooking progresses. Toward the end of cooking, add broth in 1/2-cup amounts. Now begin to bite and taste the rice. Take the pan off the heat when the rice still has a bit of tooth resistance. Think of it as al dente, just as you would test pasta. It should be tender, but never mushy.

The next steps finish the cooking and pull the dish together. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Fold in grated cheese and a last bit of butter to give the rice an extra creaminess. Cover with a lid and let the risotto stand a minute or two. Some like risotto creamier than others, but it should never be soupy or dry. It should mound on a soup spoon.

If you think making risotto is a production, eating it follows suit. Italians like their risotto hot and take care that it stays that way throughout the meal. They place a mound of risotto in the center of a wide soup bowl and gently spread the rice out toward the edge with their forks. Then they eat the outer ring. When that's gone, they spread more rice out from the mound toward the edge of the bowl. The rice in the center stays hot because of its thickness, while the rice on the edges cools off just enough.

For the ultimate comfort-food experience, eat it with a spoon. Extra cheese should be passed at the table. Serve a bottle of the wine you added to the dish or your favorite wine.

After all the concentration and effort, you wouldn't dare to waste a single grain. Recipe books will tell you that you can't reheat risotto. True, you can't reheat it in the cooking pot and expect the same consistency. But many times I've taken a container of leftover risotto to work, broken up the mound and heated it in the microwave. OK, so it's not perfect. But with a couple of tart cherry tomatoes for contrast, re-warmed risotto makes a heavenly lunch.

You can make pancakes out of leftover risotto just as you would use up leftover mashed potatoes. Add all or part of a beaten egg to leftover cold risotto and shape into patties. Melt butter in a pan and saute until brown and crusty. Flip and saute the other side. Pass a little grated cheese at the table.

Are you now convinced that it's worth the effort? Then promise me that once, just once, you'll make a genuine risotto, creamy and fragrant with butter and cheese the way it's served in Milan. You'll never regret it.

Risotto Primavera

This recipe uses asparagus, but any fresh or leftover vegetables such as peas or zucchini from a summer garden would be a good addition.

Working with 2 or 3 asparagus spears at a time, cut diagonally into 1/4-inch-long slices and set aside. There should be about 2 cups.

Bring chicken broth in small saucepan to boil, then adjust heat to maintain steady simmer. Melt butter in heavy saucepan over low heat. Add carrot, onion and celery and saute 3 minutes. Add rice and over low heat saute, stirring, 2 minutes more.

Add enough hot broth (about 1/2 cup) and cook, stirring constantly, until almost all broth has been absorbed, 3 to 4 minutes. Add another ladle of broth (about 1/2 cup to 1 cup) and cook, stirring constantly, until all broth has been absorbed. Continue adding broth, about 1/2 cup at a time, and cooking and stirring. Add next ladleful when broth is absorbed and rice begins to pull away from sides of pan as it is stirred. Cook until rice is creamy and firm, but grain of rice is not chalky in center when it is tasted. Total cooking time is about 25 minutes.

Stir in asparagus, lemon juice and lemon zest during last 5 minutes of cooking. Remove from heat. Stir in cheese, butter pieces and salt to taste. Cover and let stand about 2 minutes. Serve at once in soup plates. Pass extra cheese on side.

Makes 4 servings.