Risotto alla Milanese is an Italian dish that combines succulent and flavor-packed ingredients like white wine, saffron, cheese, and aromatic herbs. This risotto, also made with rice, butter, chicken stock, spices, and olive oil (yum!) will make your tastebuds dance. Although this dish is gorgeous enough to seem like a monumental effort, it really is easy to make and even easier to enjoy 🙂
“To Italians, a meal is more than just food…
It’s an experience, an affair to be shared with family and friends. One bite of this risotto and I think you’ll agree this is an experience to be shared with family and friends. That is, if you can tear your mouth away from your fork.
Risotto is a dish that is typically eaten prior to the main dish and is almost always associated with high end restaurants, but in reality it is the quintessence of Italian home cooking and comfort food. A good risotto nourishes the soul.
Because of my culinary background, I’ve tasted a lot of risotto. I’ve had some that were simply OK, some that were pretty good and some that left me “needing a moment alone” while I regained my composure and let the strength return to my knees. This risotto falls into the latter category.
Mise en Place: The Secret To Perfect Risotto
Risotto has a reputation of being a finicky dish. The truth is that a good risotto should not take you more than about 20-23 minutes to make. Not everyone wants to stand over a pot, stirring constantly for 30+ minutes, or so I’m told. 
Heck, there are even days where I don’t want to stand over a pot at all, so I can relate. It is crucial that you make sure you have prepped all your ingredients before you start making the risotto. I teach my readers the importance of Mise en Place. That is a fancy French term for having all your ingredients, prepped, measured and ready to go in individual containers or piles. When it comes to risotto, trust me and, prep every ingredient ahead of time. You won’t be sorry.
Quality Saffron and Cheese will Please
Because this risotto is in the “Style of Milan” (alla Milanese) we’ll be adding saffron. It is important that you get a good quality saffron for this dish. Your saffron should be a deep reddish orange and it is okay if it has some yellowish parts to it. The good news is that if stored properly in an air tight container, your saffron will last a long time. A little goes a long way, so a gram will get you through a few recipes that call for saffron. It is such an interesting spice to work with, and everyone should try it at least once. You can find decent Spanish saffron for about $8.00 to 12.00 a gram which is more than enough to make this dish 2-3 times.”
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