The World’s #1 Collection of Cookbook Recipes Online
European, Italian
lemon-risotto

Photo by: Francesca Yorke

This is comfort food on so many levels. For one, risotto has to be one of the most comforting things to eat ever. What’s more, although everyone goes on about the finickiness and crucial fine-tuning involved, I find risotto immensely comforting to make: in times of stress, mindless repetitive activity—in this case, 20 minutes of stirring—can really help. What you don’t want to do is make risotto for large numbers of people, which is why I’ve indicated that this serves two (as supper in its entirety); if you want to call it into service as a starter, then reckon on its feeding four.

There is a more personal reason why this is comforting for me. The recipe comes from Anna del Conte (from her Secrets of an Italian Kitchen to be exact), and she, beyond any doubt the best Italian foodwriter around, is the person I turn to for bolstering and solace. Just reading her books provides instant, essential nourishment.

Yield : Serves 2

Ingredients

  • 2 shallots
  • 1 rib of celery
  • ¼ cup unsalted butter
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 1/3 cups risotto rice, preferably arborio or Vialone Nano
  • Approx. 1 quart vegetable stock
  • Zest and juice of ½ unwaxed lemon
  • Needles from 2 small sprigs of fresh rosemary, finely chopped
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 4 tablespoons grated Parmesan, plus more to sprinkle
  • 4 tablespoons heavy cream
  • Maldon or other sea salt to taste
  • good grating pepper, preferably white

Directions

Put the shallots and celery into a mini food processor and blitz until they are a finely chopped mush. Heat half the butter, the oil and the shallot and celery mixture in a wide saucepan, and cook to soften the mixture for about 5 minutes, making sure it doesn’t stick. Mix in the rice, stirring to give it a good coating of oil and butter. Meanwhile, heat the stock in another saucepan and keep it at the simmering point.

Pour a ladleful of the stock into the rice and keep stirring until the stock is absorbed. Then add another ladleful and stir again. Continue doing this until the rice is al dente. You may not need all of the stock, equally, you may need to add hot water from the kettle.

Mix the lemon zest and the rosemary into the risotto, and in a small bowl beat the egg yolk, lemon juice, Parmesan, cream and pepper.

When the risotto is ready—when the rice is no longer chalky, but still has some bite—take it off the heat and add the bowl of eggy, lemony mixture, and the remaining butter and salt to taste. Serve with more grated Parmesan if you wish, check the seasoning and dive in.


© 2002 Nigella Lawson
 

Nutritional Information

Nutrients per serving

Nutritional information is based on 1/8 teaspoon added salt per serving.

1112 kcal
22 % daily value
44 % daily value
14 % daily value
542 mg
65 mg
19 g
1 g
6 g
138 g
216 mg
2468 mg
27 g
56 g
42 % daily value

Explore Cookbooks on Cookstr

desserts-4-today Desserts 4 Today
by Abby Dodge
fresh-from-the-market Fresh from the Market
by Laurent Tourondel
fresh-from-the-farmers-market-year-round-recipes-for-the-pick-of-the-crop Fresh from the Farmers' Mar...
by Janet Fletcher
cooking-for-friends Cooking for Friends
by Gordon Ramsay
nancy-silvertons-sandwich-book Nancy Silverton's Sandwich ...
by Nancy Silverton
everyday-chinese-cooking Everyday Chinese Cooking
by Katie Chin, Leeann Chin
spice Spice
by Ana Sortun
raos-cookbook Rao's Cookbook
by Frank Pellegrino
ham-an-obsession-with-the-hindquarter Ham: An Obsession with the ...
by Bruce Weinstein, Mark Scarbrough
big-fat-cookies Big Fat Cookies
by Elinor Klivans
down-home-with-the-neelys-a-southern-family-cookbook Down Home with the Neelys: ...
by Gina Neely, Pat Neely
allergy-free-desserts Allergy-Free Desserts
by Elizabeth Gordon
the-mozza-cookbook The Mozza Cookbook
by Nancy Silverton
american-vegan-kitchen American Vegan Kitchen
by Tamasin Noyes
cook-with-jamie Cook with Jamie
by Jamie Oliver
baked-new-frontiers-in-baking Baked: New Frontiers in Baking
by Matt Lewis, Renato Poliafito
a-new-way-to-cook A New Way to Cook
by Sally Schneider
the-deen-bros-take-it-easy-quick-and-affordable-meals-the-whole-family-will-love The Deen Bros. Take It Easy...
by Bobby Deen, Jamie Deen
rice Rice
by Bonnie Tandy Leblang, Joanne Lamb Hayes
amor-y-tacos Amor Y Tacos
by Deborah Schneider
nigella-express Nigella Express
by Nigella Lawson
chez-panisse-fruit Chez Panisse Fruit
by Alice Waters
the-lee-bros-southern-cookbook-stories-and-recipes-for-southerners-and-would-be-southerners The Lee Bros. Southern Cook...
by Ted Lee, Matt Lee
ice-creams-and-sorbets-cool-recipes Ice Creams and Sorbets: Coo...
by Lou Seibert Pappas
the-new-basics-cookbook The New Basics Cookbook
by Sheila Lukins, Julee Rosso
125-best-vegan-recipes 125 Best Vegan Recipes
by Maxine Effenson Chuck, Beth Gurney
david-burkes-new-american-classics David Burke's New American ...
by David Burke, Judith Choate
salmon-a-cookbook Salmon: A Cookbook
by Diane Morgan
lucindas-authentic-jamaican-kitchen Lucinda's Authentic Jamaica...
by Lucinda Scala Quinn
mom-a-licious Mom-a-Licious
by Domenica Catelli
julias-kitchen-wisdom Julia's Kitchen Wisdom
by Julia Child
living-raw-food Living Raw Food
by Sarma Melngailis
baked-explorations Baked Explorations
by Matt Lewis
the-south-american-table-the-flavor-and-soul-of-authentic-home-cooking-from-patagonia-to-rio-de-janeiro-with-450-recipes The South American Table: T...
by Maria Baez Kijac
arthur-schwartzs-new-york-city-food Arthur Schwartz's New York ...
by Arthur Schwartz
sunday-suppers-at-lucques Sunday Suppers at Lucques
by Suzanne Goin
le-bernardin-cookbook Le Bernardin Cookbook
by Eric Ripert, Maguy Le Coze
american-masala American Masala
by Suvir Saran
urban-italian-simple-recipes-and-true-stories-from-a-life-in-food Urban Italian: Simple Recip...
by Andrew Carmellini
125-best-cupcake-recipes 125 Best Cupcake Recipes
by Julie Hasson
usa-cookbook U.S.A. Cookbook
by Sheila Lukins
the-gourmet-cookbook The Gourmet Cookbook
by Ruth Reichl
martin-yans-china Martin Yan's China
by Martin Yan
the-sushi-experience The Sushi Experience
by Hiroko Shimbo
the-bread-bible The Bread Bible
by Rose Levy Beranbaum
complete-book-of-indian-cooking-350-recipes-from-the-regions-of-india Complete Book of Indian Coo...
by Suneeta Vaswani
seriously-simple-easy-recipes-for-creative-cooks Seriously Simple: Easy Reci...
by Diane Rossen Worthington
a-bakers-odyssey A Baker's Odyssey
by Greg Patent
jacques-torres-a-year-in-chocolate-80-recipes-for-holidays-and-special-occasions Jacques Torres' A Year in C...
by Judith Choate, Jacques Torres
the-provence-cookbook The Provence Cookbook
by Patricia Wells
mexican-made-easy-everyday-ingredients-extraordinary-flavor Mexican Made Easy: Everyday...
by Marcela Valladolid
bistro-cooking-at-home-more-than-150-classic-and-contemporary-dishes Bistro Cooking at Home: Mor...
by Gordon Hamersley
hot-sour-salty-sweet Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet
by Jeffrey Alford, Naomi Duguid
mexican-everyday Mexican Everyday
by Rick Bayless
the-whole-beast-nose-to-tail-eating The Whole Beast: Nose to Ta...
by Fergus Henderson
good-to-the-grain Good to the Grain
by Kim Boyce
lidias-italy Lidia's Italy
by Lidia Bastianich
rosas-new-mexican-table-friendly-recipes-for-festive-meals Rosa's New Mexican Table: F...
by Roberto Santibanez
cooking-with-too-hot-tamales Cooking with Too Hot Tamales
by Mary Sue Milliken, Susan Feniger
food-to-live-by Food to Live By
by Myra Goodman
the-splendid-tables-how-to-eat-weekends The Splendid Table's How to...
by Sally Swift, Lynne Rosetto Kasper
new-american-table New American Table
by Marcus Samuelsson
unforgettable-desserts Unforgettable Desserts
by Dede Wilson
flavor Flavor
by Rocco DiSpirito
david-rosengarten-entertains-fabulous-parties-for-food-lovers David Rosengarten Entertain...
by David Rosengarten
the-sweet-life The Sweet Life
by Kate Zuckerman
Already a member? Click here to Log In
close

Sign up to Cookstr!

  • Receive a free, handpicked selection of recipes in your inbox weekly
  • Save, share and comment on your favorite recipes in My Cookstr
  • Get updates on new Cookstr features and tools







By signing up you accept the
Terms of Use and Privacy Policy
Spinner
New to Cookstr? Click here to Sign Up
close


Forgot your password? Click here