Today we stay in Milan, but we enter the kitchen! And in the kitchen, Milan rhymes with risotto! Saffron risotto? No! We will tell you about that another time… today we discover Risotto alla parmigiana!
In the company of a chef who specializes in the refined preparation of risotto, Roberto Fontana, patron ofI Restaurant 23 Risottos Casa Fontana*, we talk to you about Risotto alla parmigiana, one of Milan’s most mouth-watering first courses, rigorously prepared with Grana Lodigiano, the famous Raspadura. It will be our tribute to our friends from Lodi, the first ones unexpectedly hit by the Coronavirus contagion and who first started to face it with great dignity. Italians, it is known, are the true specialists of cheese, be it the softer type, or the harder and more seasoned. Its Latin ancestor was the formaticum!
For the risotto we are going to prepare we will use just such a formaticum: Grana Lodigiano in the expression of Raspadura, that is, “rasped.”
But why did the grana cheese originate in the Po Valley?
The Cistercian monks of Viboldone Abbey in the 13th century began to use the water from the resurgences to obtain even during the winter season fresh grass to feed the livestock on the farms of the rich and noble. The availability of more food for the animals made the cattle in the area rapidly increase and necessitated more abundant milk production. Thus was born the Grana cheese, a formaticum that lends itself to long aging and smooth transportation. We use Raspadura, a Grana aged only six months (alternatively, you can use grated Parmesan). It was originally a “defective” cheese because grana after six months was checked with the famous hammer and a special sucker, and if it showed defects it was cut in half and sold as scrap. The characteristic of Grana Lodigiano is that at six months it is already tasty, unlike Grana Padano-which is still tasteless-and Parmigiano Reggiano, which, by regulations, cannot be sold before 12 months.
Now let’s go and prepare the Risotto!
*Thank you to Roberto Fontana, patron of the 23 Risotto Casa Fontana Restaurant.
Recipe
Ingredients for 4 people
g. 400 carnaroli rice
g. 50 chopped onion
g. 50 butter
cl. 150 dry white wine
lt. 2.5 meat and vegetable broth
g. 300 raspadura/to taste
for those with a sweet tooth: no. 4 cloves of garlic thinly sliced and sautéed in 50 g. of butter.
Execution:
Sweat the onion in butter, after a couple of minutes add and toast the rice and when it whitens, deglaze with wine.
Start cooking by adding the broth a little at a time; you need to stir often.
When it is al dente add 150 g. of cheese, turn off the heat and stir.
Serve on the wave garnishing with the remaining Raspadura and, if you have a sweet tooth, sprinkle with the browned garlic.
Wine pairing: a good San Colombano red.
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