Free Cooking Rice with an Italian Accent! by Giuseppe Orsini Page A

heat for five minutes. Add the artichokes and sauté for three minutes. Add a teaspoon of broth. Season with salt and pepper. Add rice. Stir to heat the grains for five minutes. Add the stock, cup by cup, stirring constantly, until all the broth is absorbed by the rice (about eighteen minutes). Remove from heat. Add one tablespoon of butter, the remaining parsley and the grated cheese. Mix well. Let stand covered for two minutes. Transfer to serving bowl and bring to table. Proprio gustoso! (Really delicious!)
    RECOMMENDED WINES:
    ORVIETO CLASSICO, DOLCETTO D’ALBA
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    Risotto con Salsiccia e Marsala
    (SAUSAGE AND MARSALA WINE RISOTTO)
    SERVES 4
    Marsala cooking wine is sold in supermarkets. Don’t buy it. It is loaded with salt and has only a faint hint of genuine marsala. Please do yourself a favor and buy the real stuff imported from Sicily. Make sure it is dry marsala ( secco is the Italian word on the bottle). This is a smashing combination of ingredients that will deliver an excellent risotto. The marsala I use is made by the Florio Company.
    2 tablespoons olive oil
    1 tablespoon butter
    2 scallions, minced
    3 fresh sage leaves, minced (if you can’t get fresh sage, skip it; dried sage simply won’t do)
    14 ounces Italian sweet sausage, skinned and crumbled
    1½ cups Arborio rice
    Â½ cup dry marsala wine
    1 quart boiling hot beef stock
    2 tablespoons light cream
    2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
    Â½ cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
    Salt and pepper to taste
    Heat olive oil and butter in a large saucepan and sauté scallions and sage on gentle heat for eight minutes. Add sausage and fry until well browned, about another eight minutes. Add rice and stir for three minutes. Add marsala wine and cook until completely evaporated. Add hot broth, cup by cup, until all liquid is absorbed by rice (about eighteen minutes). Remove from heat. Stir in cream and grated cheese. Add chopped parsley. Stir. Season with salt and pepper. Pour into warm serving bowl and bring to table. If someone wants more cheese, pass grated Parmesan separately.
    RECOMMENDED WINES:
    AMARONE, BAROLO
    Â 
    Risotto Povero
    (POOR MAN’S RISOTTO)
    SERVES 4
    The name for this tasty risotto comes from the inexpensive ingredients. Even if you are on a street budget, it doesn’t mean you have to eat poorly. When the poor man partakes of this tasty dish, he won’t have to sing “If I were a Rich Man,” Tevyeh’s famous song from Fiddler on the Roof. No it isn’t kosher.
    Â½ large onion, minced
    3 leaves of fresh sage, minced (if you can’t get fresh sage, simply omit it)
    1 rib celery, minced
    Â½ cup dry white vermouth
    2 tablespoons butter
    2 tablespoons olive oil
    1½ cups Arborio rice
    1 quart boiling hot beef stock
    5 ounces mortadella sausage or boiled ham, minced
    2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
    Ground fresh black pepper to taste
    Melt one tablespoon of butter in olive oil in a large saucepan on gentle heat. Add onion, sage (if available), celery, and mortadella. Cook eight minutes. Add rice and stir for three minutes. Add dry vermouth and cook until evaporated. Add the hot beef broth, cup by cup, constantly stirring, until the rice absorbs all the liquid (eighteen minutes). Remove from heat, stir in one tablespoon of butter, grated cheese, and black pepper. Mix well, cover, and let rest two minutes. Pile on a warm serving dish in the form of a little mountain and bring to table. Provide grated Parmesan for those who want it.
    RECOMMENDED WINES:
    LAMBRUSCO DI GASPAROSSA, DOLCETTO
    Â 
    Risotto con patate e Zucchine
    (POTATO AND ZUCCHINE RISOTTO)
    SERVES 4
    I discovered this risotto in the gorgeous city of Ravenna, which is famous for its remarkable mosaics. It was for a time the temporary headquarters of the Holy Roman Emperor Theodoric. If this risotto is an indication of the local cuisine, then its food should be as famous as its mosaics.
    3 medium unpeeled zucchini, washed and