Italian Salami Risotto Recipes

RISOTTO WITH PEAS AND SAUSAGE

Steps:

• Place stock in a saucepan and keep on low heat.
• Heat oil in a separate heavy 3-quart saucepan. Add leeks and garlic and sauté on medium-low until leeks are translucent. Stir in sausage or veal, if using. Cook 2 to 3 minutes. Add in rice and cook a few minutes, stirring, until grains start to whiten. Add wine and cook until it's nearly evaporated.
• Add a 1/2 cup of the warm stock and the peas. Stir and cook at a steady simmer until the stock has nearly evaporated. Add another 1/2 cup of the stock, stir from time to time until it's nearly evaporated. Keep this up until the rice is almost al dente, the peas are tender and there's only a little stock left. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Fold in lemon zest and remaining stock; the result should be creamy. Cook another minute or two. Fold in butter.
• Divide risotto among 4 to 6 shallow soup plates. Top each portion with cheese and chives. Serve.

ITALIAN SAUSAGE AND MUSHROOM RISOTTO

Steps:

• Add 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil to a large sauté pan over medium high heat, then add the chopped onion. Cook until onion is translucent, but don't let it brown. In another small pan, sauté the fresh mushrooms in some oil, set aside.
• Push onion to one side of saute pan, and add sausages (make sure casings have been removed.
• Stir the onions, then start breaking sausage (I like to use a flat, wooden spatula tool, like you see in the photos) into smaller pieces
• Once sausage is broken up, mix onions and sausage together until sausage is fully cooked and starts to brown. Remove from pan and set aside with the soaked porcini mushrooms or fresh sauteed mushrooms.
• In same pan, add 1 tablespoonful of olive oil, (heat should still be medium high), then add rice. Stir constantly, (add a little more oil if rice is too dry or sticks,) and cook for 1 minute.
• Add wine and stir constantly until it evaporates
• Start adding about 1/2 cup (113 ml) of hot stock (keep it in a pot on the stove) at a time, stirring so the rice doesn't stick and until it is absorbed
• Continue adding the stock to the rice, always stirring. The rice will continue to grow as you add the water.
• Once all the water has been added, return the other ingredients to the pan
• Stir thoroughly and continue to cook until the rice is al dente. It should take no longer than 20 minutes to cook risotto; 18 minutes is usually perfect. Click here to see a short video clip of stirring the Italian sausage and mushroom risotto.
• At this point, if the rice should be ready. Remove from heat and add the butter. This is the "mantecazione" of the risotto, which essentially is the final step to make the risotto creamy.
• Add the grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and stir until the butter and cheese are no longer visible and the rice is creamy. Taste for salt and pepper, and adjust as needed. Serve hot.

SAUSAGE & RED WINE RISOTTO

Steps:

• Simmer your chosen stock. Put a large, high-sided pan on a medium heat and toast the hazelnuts as it heats up.
• Meanwhile, peel the onion, trim the fennel and finely chop both.
• Tip the hazelnuts into a pestle and mortar, returning the pan to the heat. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 knob of butter, followed by the chopped veg, then strip in the thyme leaves (reserving the soft tips for garnish).
• Squeeze the sausagemeat out of the skins into the pan, breaking it up with the back of a wooden spoon. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, then stir in the rice to toast.
• After 2 minutes, pour in the wine and stir until absorbed.
• Now start adding the stock, a ladleful at a time, letting each one cook away before adding more, and stirring constantly for 16 to 18 minutes, or until the rice is cooked but still retains its shape.
• When done, add a splash of stock or water to make it oozy, then finely grate over most of the Parmesan, beat it in with the remaining butter, taste, and season to perfection.
• Turn the heat off, then bomb in little nuggets of fontina, so they melt subtly into the rice.
• Cover, and leave to rest off the heat for 2 minutes while you crush the nuts.
• Divide the risotto between warm plates, then finely grate over the remaining Parmesan.
• Sprinkle over the crushed nuts and thyme tips, then drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.

RISOTTO WITH SAUSAGE AND PARSLEY

Steps:

• With the tip of a small, sharp knife, slit open the sausage casings. Crumble the meat into a wide, heavy skillet or Dutch oven, and set over medium heat. If the meat is not rendering enough fat to coat the bottom of the pan as it begins to cook, add olive oil, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the meat is frying gently, not steaming. Sprinkle the salt and pepper over the sausage, and cook, breaking up any large chunks of sausage and stirring occasionally, until the meat is opaque and crisp at the edges, approximately 10 minutes. Remove sausage from pan, and reserve 1 tablespoon of the rendered fat.
• Pour the stock into a medium saucepan or pot, and bring to a low simmer.
• While the stock heats, return the heavy skillet or Dutch oven to medium-low heat, and add to it the 1 tablespoon reserved sausage fat and 1 tablespoon butter, or 2 tablespoons butter if you don't want to cook with the sausage fat. When the butter foams, add the diced onion, and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until it is soft and translucent, approximately 5 to 7 minutes. Add the rice, and stir until well coated, adding another tablespoon of fat if necessary. Stir until translucent, an additional 5 to 7 minutes.
• Raise the heat under the rice to medium, and add the wine to the skillet. Stir until wine is absorbed, then reduce the heat slightly. Begin adding ladlefuls of hot broth to the rice, stirring constantly and allowing each addition to be absorbed before adding the next. Cook rice until it is tender but slightly chewy, approximately 20 to 30 minutes. You may not need all the broth. You may need more than you have; if additional liquid is needed, you can use boiling water.
• Remove the skillet from heat, and add the cheese, stirring to mix it into the rice. Add the sausage to the rice, and stir again. Taste, and adjust seasonings with additional salt and pepper if necessary. Squeeze the lemon over the rice, and then mound the risotto on a large, warmed bowl. Scatter the parsley over the top, and serve immediately, with more grated Parmesan on the side.

TOMATO AND SAUSAGE RISOTTO

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, combine tomatoes (with their juice) and 3 cups water. Bring just to a simmer; keep warm over low heat.
• In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium. Add sausage and onion; season with salt and pepper. Cook, breaking up sausage with a spoon, until sausage is opaque and onion has softened, 3 to 5 minutes.
• Add rice; cook, stirring until well coated, 1 to 2 minutes. Add wine; cook, stirring until absorbed, about 1 minute.
• Add about 2 cups hot tomato mixture to rice; simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until absorbed, 4 to 5 minutes. Continue adding tomato mixture, 1 cup at a time, waiting for one cup to be absorbed before adding the next, stirring occasionally, until rice is creamy and just tender, about 25 minutes total (you may not have to use all the liquid).
• Remove pan from heat. Stir in spinach, Parmesan, and butter; season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately (risotto will thicken as it cools), and sprinkle with additional Parmesan, if desired.

ITALIAN SAUSAGE AND MUSHROOM RISOTTO

Steps:

• Cook the sausage and mushrooms Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Crumble the sausage into the pan, spreading it out in an even layer. Cook for a couple of minutes. Add the mushrooms, thyme, and oregano. Increase the heat to medium high and cook until the mushrooms are tender, about 10 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of the Madeira and scrape to deglaze the pan, about 1 minute. Set aside.
• Heat chicken stock until it is steamy or simmering in a large saucepan and keep warm over low heat.
• Cook onions and garlic in butter Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.
• Add the rice Add the rice to the onions and cook for a couple of minutes, until the rice starts to brown.
• Add remaining 1 cup Madeira. Cook, stirring constantly until Madeira has been absorbed, about 2 minutes.
• Add the hot stock, one ladleful at a time and simmer until it is almost all absorbed by the rice, after each addition. Slowly stir the rice while it is cooking in the stock. Continue to cook until rice is just tender and mixture is creamy, adding more stock by ladlefuls, stirring often and allowing most stock to be absorbed before adding more, until rice is tender, but still firm to the bite, about 20-25 minutes.
• Stir in the sausage and mushrooms. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with cheese to serve. Adapted from Bon Appétit magazine.

RISOTTO WITH ITALIAN SAUSAGE

Steps:

• Add the butter and olive oil to a medium skillet (cast iron works great). We use nonstick for convenience at the restaurant. When the pan is hot and the butter is melted, add the garlic and then add the rice. Stir the rice and garlic to coat with the oil and butter. Once completely coated, stirring for about a minute, add some of the stock until the rice is slightly covered. Continue to add the stock slowly as the stock is absorbed by the rice. Reduce to medium heat and stir occasionally to prevent sticking to skillet.
• Once the rice has cooked for 5 to 10 minutes, add the saffron. Continue to add the stock slowly, covering the rice with stock, allowing it to absorb into the rice while cooking and then recovering the rice with stock. This process will be repeated until the rice is cooked to desired tenderness. As the saffron is slowly absorbed into the rice, the risotto will turn a brilliant yellow. If you use stringy style saffron it should all be broken down and absorbed by the time the risotto is finished. (The powder version takes less time to absorb.)
• Slowly reduce the amount of chicken stock that is added as you reach the desired tenderness, about 45 minutes. Once this magical point is reached, stir in the cheese.
• Add the sausage to a medium pot of boiling water. Cook for 12 to 15 minutes depending on size and style of sausage. (Don't pierce the sausage.)
• Place the desired serving size of risotto on a plate or pasta bowl. Garnish by sprinkling a medium circle of cheese in the middle of the risotto and sprinkle a smaller circle of parsley on top for color. Peel the sausage, slice lengthwise in half and line the boarder of each side of the risotto with the sausage. (Optionally, cut the sausage in 1/4-inch pieces on the bias and add to the risotto before plating.)

ITALIAN SALAMI RISOTTO

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a non-stick pan.
• Add the salami, onion and garlic and cook over a medium heat for 3 minutes.
• Add the bell pepper and sundried tomatoes and cook for a further 3 minutes.
• Add the arborio rice to the pan and cook, stirring, for about 1 minute.
• Add the white wine, bring to a simmer and cook, stirring, until the wine has been absorbed. While the rice is absorbing the wine, heat your chicken stock (this can be done at an earlier stage and kept warm if you prefer).
• Add the chicken stock 1/2 a cup at a time, stirring occasionally. Each time, make sure the stock is absorbed before you add more or it will be a very runny risotto! The non-stick pan is important for this stage, so the rice doesn't stick when the stock is low.
• With the last half cup of stock, add the ground oregano and stir well.
• When the stock is all absorbed, taste the risotto to make sure the rice is tender (if not, add another 1/4 cup of stock).
• Add the mascarpone cheese and stir until it has melted in
• Serve hot and enjoy!

CREAMY SAUSAGE RISOTTO

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, heat broth and keep warm. Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet, cook sausage over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Set aside and keep warm. , In the same skillet, saute the mushrooms, onion, garlic and saffron in butter and oil until tender, about 3 minutes. Add rice; cook and stir for 2-3 minutes. Carefully stir in 1 cup warm broth. Cook and stir until all of the liquid is absorbed., Add remaining broth, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly. Allow the liquid to absorb between additions. Cook until risotto is creamy and rice is almost tender. (Cooking time is about 20 minutes.) Add reserved sausage; heat through. Remove from the heat. Stir in cheese and cream. Serve immediately.

ITALIAN SAUSAGE RISOTTO

Steps:

• In a large frying pan, cook sausage over medium-high heat, breaking into small pieces, approximately 4 minutes or until browned.
• Drain.
• Add garlic, onion, zucchini, oregano, salt and pepper.
• Continue to cook over medium heat, stirring often, approximately 3 minutes or until the vegetables are softened.
• Add rice.
• Mix well.
• Add 3 cups (750 ml) chicken stock.
• Bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat to medium-low.
• Cover, cook for 15 minutes, stirring once.
• Add the remainder of the chicken stock, stirring often and simmer approximately 5 minutes or until rice is tender and creamy.
• Add tomato, Parmesan cheese and parsley.
• Stir.
• Serve immediately.

SAUSAGE RISOTTO

Steps:

• Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a saute pan over medium heat. Add sausage and cook, breaking it up with a spoon, for 3 minutes. Add shallots, 1 tablespoon butter, and 1/2 teaspoon salt; saute until shallots begin to caramelize, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
• Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add Arborio rice and stir until it begins to brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Add wine and continue stirring until almost absorbed, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Begin to add broth, 1/2 cup at a time. Stir until broth is almost completely absorbed, then add another 1/2 cup and repeat. Continue adding broth until risotto resembles a thick porridge but still has some bite to it. This process will take 20 to 30 minutes.
• Remove from the heat. Stir in the sausage mixture, Parmesan cheese, and remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Season with salt if necessary. Garnish with thyme sprigs and serve immediately.