Risotto with sausages

I've adapted this from a recipe in Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. I've used a number of different kinds of sausage successfully: variations are at the end of the recipe.

• 6 cups chicken broth or stock
• 1/4 cup finely chopped yellow onion
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3/4 pound Italian sausage links, cut into disks about 1/3 inch thick
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
• 1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• freshly ground black pepper
• salt to taste, if needed

Pour the stock or broth into a saucepan and set on the stove to simmer. In a large, heavy saucepan (I use my 4-quart chef's pan) over medium-high heat, melt the butter with the olive oil, then add the onions and cook until translucent, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the sliced sausage and cook until the sausage is well-browned on both sides, about 10 minutes, then add the wine and cook until the wine has bubbled away, stirring occasionally. Add the rice and stir until white spots appear in the middle of the grains.

Add a ladleful of stock, reduce the high to medium to maintain a simmer, and stir constantly (yes, really - if you don't keep stirring, it won't cook right) until the liquid is mostly absorbed, then add another ladleful. Continue like this until the rice is just tender and the risotto looks creamy - this will take about 25 more minutes, and you may or may not use up all of the stock. If you use it all up and the risotto isn't done yet, add a little water or wine and keep cooking.

When it's done, add the cheese and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir to mix and serve practically immediately - risotto does not sit around well.

Variations: This recipe is very versatile - just use a different sausage, and the flavor of the risotto will change completely. You may also want to vary the soffrito (yellow onion in the basic recipe) and the kind of broth you use. Some variations I've tried:

• Andouille, with 2 tablespoons chopped shallots instead of onion, and 2 cups beef broth with 4 cups water instead of chicken broth (beef broth tends to have a stronger flavor than chicken broth, so I mix it with water so that the beef flavor doesn't overwhelm the risotto)
• chorizo, with 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion, and 2 cups beef broth with 4 cups water
• some excellent chicken and roasted garlic sausage I got at Central Market, with chopped garlic (cooked for just a few seconds before you add the sausage, or it'll burn), and 6 cups chicken broth

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Last updated 15 March 2004.
All text and photographs © George Mitchell and Margaret Johnston, unless otherwise noted
Comments, questions, suggestions to margaret@lonelymountain.net.