13/4cupsuncooked Arborio ricecan substitute any small grain rice or Basmati rice
6cupschicken broth
1teaspoonsaffron powder or about 14 threads – see note above on preparing threads
1 1/2cupssliced mushrooms or 1 1/2of dried mushrooms
1poundLuganega sausageremoved from casing
1cupolive oildivided
4tablespoonsunsalted butter
Salt and pepper to taste
1cupgrated parmesan cheesereserve 4 tablespoons for garnish
Instructions
Remove the sausage from its casing and break it into small pieces.
Heat a large saucepan and add ½ cup of the olive oil, mushrooms, and sausage. Season with salt and pepper to taste and brown in a medium saucepan.
Remove sausage and mushrooms from the pan and drain the fat.
Return sausage and mushrooms to the pan with ½ cup of olive oil.
Add the rice slowly. The rice will start to turn translucent as it soaks up the oil.
Turn the heat down to medium and add the chicken broth ½ cup at a time. Allow the rice to soak up all of the broth before adding more broth.
After adding one cup of broth, add the saffron.
Continue adding broth ½ cup at time.
When rice appears al dente, remove from heat.
Incorporate butter and parmesan cheese.
Serve in individual bowls with the rest of the parmesan cheese on top.
Recipe Notes
My great-grandmother and grandmother used to boil a small chicken in preparation for the risotto. Then, they would ladle the broth in bit by bit until the rice was cooked. This process would take hours. The result was delicious.