Lagniappe: Sunday lunch? or Saturday supper?

Springtime risotto and a rhubarb crisp

Back in the day, I sometimes gave cooking classes for interested folks. (It was fun, personally rewarding, but, man, it was tiring!) One thing frequently asked about was risotto, the rice dish from northern Italy that so many seem to think conceals secrets that prevent a perfect execution.

Left to right, borage risotto, green risotto, strawberry risotto

Nothing could be farther from the truth! In fact, risotto is a quick and easy way to put supper on the table, even for a crowd. I’ve made it successfully for eight or ten. I wouldn’t perhaps go beyond that, but once, in the very early days of Slow Food, I attended a risotto dinner prepared for a couple of hundred guests, to benefit the organization. It took place in a Venetian palazzo that actually had no kitchen, and the risotto was close to perfect. How the chef, who was from Friuli, managed that feat I have no idea.