The Essential Liquid Lidia Bastianich Always Adds To Risotto

When you want a warm meal with a beautiful presentation, you reach for risotto. It's an elegant, simple combination of broth and rice — one that's made so much better when you pour yourself a glass of white wine during the cooking process. That wine, it turns out, is just as important to the risotto as it is to the chef. It infuses pizzazz into every grain of rice, creating another layer of flavor while magnifying those already present in the dish.

In an interview with Tasting Table, celebrity chef Lidia Bastianich explained why white wine is such an essential part of risotto. "Milled rice [is] about 95% starch, so it's not very flavorful," she shared. "When you're toasting it with a little bit of oil and it's toasted, you add the wine. The rice will absorb the wine. You will balance the kernel of the rice with flavor and with acidity." After adding the wine, stir the mixture and scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Cook until most of the alcohol smell has dissipated, concentrating the flavor of the wine. Then, follow immediately with a bit of hot stock, allowing it to absorb into the rice as you stir before you add another ladleful.

Sauvignon blanc, pinot grigio, and unoaked chardonnay are among the best white wines to make risotto shine. Lidia Bastianich said the most important thing to remember when you're choosing a variety is how it will match all of the flavors in the dish and to select a bottle you actually like drinking.

"A dry white wine usually goes [well]," Bastianich told Tasting Table. "Don't go out and buy the best Chablis or chardonnays. Something that you have left over is great for cooking, but it has to be drinkable wine that you like — and dry, not sweet." As Bastianich advised, you should reach for dry wines when cooking savory recipes because they bring more acidity than sweetness.

If you're making risotto with Arborio rice and saffron, known as risotto alla Milanese (the best risotto in Italy, according to Giada De Laurentiis), use white wine that will bring out the flavor of the saffron. Crisp whites, like a brand of pinot grigio or pecorino, will lift saffron's earthy, honeyed notes. Wines from the northern regions of Italy also work well, like those from Piedmont, Lombardy, and Veneto. Sauvignon blanc goes well with tomato-based risottos, and chardonnay will balance out the flavors in a seafood risotto. 

Static Media owns and operates Tasting Table and The Takeout.