This saffron risotto is the easiest and oldest of risotto Italian recipes. In Italian it is called Riso alla milanese con zafferano or simply Riso alla milanese, although Milanese call it risott giald.
It is said that saffron was added to risotto quite by chance around the year 1574 and because of a joke. But people enjoyed the recipe so much that it became a classic risotto milanese, although in Italy saffron is grown mostly in Sardinia.
Ingredients for saffron risotto
- 1 3/4 cups or 400 gr rice for risotto
- 1 qt (1 l) beef or chicken broth
- 1 cup (225 g) marrow of beef bone
- Parmesan cheese
- A pinch saffron
How to make risotto
Wash and dry the rice. An easy way to do it is to put the rice in a colander and place it under running tap water while you shake the rice or stir it with one hand.
In a pot, bring some chicken or beef broth to a boil and add the rice. Half way into cooking the rice, add the marrow of beef bone cut into small pieces and cook for a few minutes.
Add grated Parmesan cheese and remove the pot from heat.
Dissolve some saffron in one or two tablespoons of the meat broth. Sift it through a sieve and mix with the rice. Serve the risotto rice very hot.
As I said above, this saffron risotto recipe is very simple, some people add onion that they cook at the beginning with some butter and others add also white wine. Anyway, the saffron risotto I’m giving you here is a quick and easy recipe that you can cook in no time.