Risotto Risotti

Years after coauthoring the widely praised and best-selling book Risotto, Judith Barrett revisits Arborio rice territory. But Judith Barrett also reaches beyond Italy for inspiration. Turning to those cuisines where rice is a staple, she blends ingredients from Asia, the Middle East, and the Tropics into adventurous world risotti. And sizing up the way people really cook and eat, she offers short-cut and low-fat techniques for risotto, too.
For anyone who may have missed the risotto revolution, Barrett starts with a risotto reference guide. Here, she explains simply and directly what risotto is and moves on to risotto history, rice and the varieties suitable for risotto (there's now an American Arborio rice), essential equipment, and tips for serving risotto.
Barrett has divided the recipes into chapters on vegetable risotti, seafood and fish risotti, meat risotti, low-fat risotti, risotto cakes, riceless "risotti," and dessert risotti. In addition to recipes, the cookbook is peppered throughout with notes on montasio cheese, frico, or melted cheese crisps, edible gold, and much more.

Following up on her successful Risotto, Judith Barrett takes us on a further adventure, featuring rice prepared in more than 100 ways in Risotto, Risotti. She provides six methods for preparing this traditionally northern Italian pasta, going beyond the classic "add broth and stir" method, to include the microwave and the pressure cooker. Wildly eclectic dishes include Fiddlehead Ferns and Gruyere Cheese Risotto, and Risotto with Catfish. (Italianate recipes like Mediterranean Fish Risotto with Saffron seem more appealing.) A dozen low fat recipes and "risotti" made with other grains or using vegetables in place of rice, plus dessert recipes make this a trendy book.