CREAMY RISOTTO IS NW CHIC AND CREATIVE.

Byline: Jane Snow Knight-Ridder Tribune News Wire

If cheese is milk's leap to immortality, then risotto surely is rice's descent into sin. It tastes so rich and silken and creamy that it almost seems naughty eating it.

For those who have not tried the Northern Italian rice dish, it is an amalgam of short-grain rice swollen with broth and bound with - usually - butter and Parmesan cheese.

In Italy, risotto is served, as pasta is, as a first course before the meat or fish entree. But just as Americans have made pasta a main course, they have moved risotto from the wings to center stage.

Chic restaurants are adding all kinds of ingredients to risotto and offering it as a hearty entree. Even non-Italian restaurants are getting into the act, throwing decidedly non-Italian ingredients into the pot.

These inventions illustrate what noted Italian cooking teacher Marcella Hazan meant when she wrote, "There are so many things you can do with risotto that it is almost a cuisine all by itself."

But while the add-ins may vary, the rice doesn't. Plump, short-grain arborio is the rice of choice for risotto. It is increasingly available in supermarkets, where it sometimes is labeled "risotto rice."

Arborio rice is especially suitable because it plumps up and becomes creamy when liquid is absorbed. Because the liquid must be added slowly to the rice, traditional risotto is not a quick fix. The liquid - chicken broth, fish stock, water or even wine - is added a little at a time. The mixture is stirred over heat until the liquid is absorbed, then more liquid is added.

The process is repeated until the grains are swollen and bound together in a creamy mass. For centuries, it took 20 to 30 minutes to make a proper risotto. Then heretics discovered the microwave.

Nuked risotto isn't quite as creamy as the real thing, but it's a lot quicker and easier to make.

For the microwave version, arborio rice is combined with all of the liquid and seasonings, and cooked on high (100 percent) power for about eight minutes. On a rushed weeknight, the slight difference in texture and flavor is made bearable by the convenience.

Although risotto tastes a lot richer than it actually is (it doesn't contain that much butter and cheese), it can be made in a low-fat version. We're offering a slimmed-down recipe from "High-Flavor Low-Fat Cooking" by Steven Raichlen, along with a recipe for risotto with Parmesan cheese from the "Classic Italian Cookbook" by Marcella Hazan; a recipe for microwave risotto studded with chicken and vegetables; and a recipe for new-wave Asian risotto with shrimp and chicken from "Fusion Food Cookbook" by Hugh Carpenter and Teri Sandison.

Use Hazan's recipe as a basis for your own inventions, adding vegetables, meats and herbs at will.

One final note: Don't even think of making risotto with margarine and Parmesan cheese from a shaker can. Use real butter and Parmesan cheese that you've grated yourself or that is sold as fresh-grated in the dairy case. Your taste buds will thank you.

HERB RISOTTO

1 tablespoon olive oil 

1 onion, finely chopped (about 1 cup)

1 clove garlic, minced

1 1/2 cups uncooked arborio rice

1/2 cup dry white wine

5 to 6 cups chicken broth, heated to simmering

1/4 cup chopped fresh herbs, such as basil, chives and parsley

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Salt

Fresh ground black pepper 

In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Cook onion and garlic 3 to 4 minutes, until softened. Stir in rice and cook 1 minute. Add wine and bring to a boil, stirring until most of wine is absorbed.

Add 1/2 cup broth and cook, stirring, at a gentle simmer. When most of liquid is absorbed, add another 1/2 cup broth. Continue until 5 cups are used up. If rice is still hard, add 1/2 to 1 cup more broth.

Add herbs during last 3 minutes of cooking. Cooking process should take 18 to 20 minutes.

Remove pan from heat and stir in cheese and salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings.

RISOTTO WITH PARMESAN CHEESE

1 cup canned chicken broth mixed with 4 cups water

2 tablespoons minced shallots OR yellow onion 

3 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups uncooked arborio rice

1/2 heaping cup freshly grated Parmesan

Salt (optional)

Bring broth mixture to a slow, steady simmer. In a heavy saucepan, saute shallots in 2 tablespoons butter and all oil over medium-high heat until translucent.

Add rice and saute 2 minutes, stirring to coat rice. Add 1/2 cup simmering broth. Cook and stir until rice absorbs liquid and wipes sides of pan as you stir. When rice dries out, add another 1/2 cup broth and continue to cook and stir; repeat procedure until all broth is used. Do not let rice stick to bottom of pan.

Regulate heat to medium to cook rice in about 30 minutes. If rice cooks too slowly, rice becomes gluey. If rice cooks too fast, rice will be chalky.

When rice is about 5 minutes from done, add Parmesan and remaining tablespoon butter. Mix well. Season to taste with salt.

Serve immediately. Makes 4 first-course or 2 entree servings.

MICROWAVE RISOTTO WITHVEGETABLES AND CHICKEN

2 boneless chicken breast halves

2 cups chicken broth

3 tablespoons butter

1 small yellow onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

3/4 cup diced red and green bell peppers

3/4 cup diced zucchini

1 medium tomato, seeded and chopped

1 carrot, scrubbed and shredded

1 cup uncooked arborio rice

Dry white wine

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper

Place chicken in a saucepan with broth. Cover and simmer very slowly (water should barely bubble), 7 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and no longer pink in center. Remove chicken from broth and set aside.

Place butter in a 4-quart casserole or microwave-safe bowl. Add onion and garlic, cover with plastic wrap and microwave on high (100 percent) power about 3 minutes, until glassy. Add peppers, zucchini, tomato and carrot and stir well. Cover tightly and microwave on high power 3 minutes or until vegetables are tender-crisp.

Stir in rice, coating grains. Measure broth from poaching chicken; add enough white wine to equal 2 cups. Add to rice mixture. Cover tightly and microwave on high power 5 to 7 minutes, until boiling. Stir, recover and microwave on medium (50 percent) power 9 to 10 minutes, until almost all liquid is absorbed. Let stand, covered, 5 minutes.

Stir in parsley, cheese and salt and pepper to taste. Serve with chicken. Makes 2 servings.

ASIAN RISOTTO WITH SHRIMP AND CHICKEN

1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms

1 red bell pepper, stemmed and seeded

1/2 cup pine nuts

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 of 1 roast chicken, preferably smoked

3/4 pound medium raw shrimp

3 1/4 cups chicken broth

1/4 cup dry sherry

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon chile sauce (optional)

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup uncooked arborio rice

1/2 cup coarse chopped fresh cilantro

Cut off and discard mushroom stems. Cut into 1/4-inch strips. Cut bell pepper into 1/4-inch cubes.

In preheated 325-degree oven, toast pine nuts on a baking sheet, about 8 minutes, until golden.

Combine ginger and garlic. Set aside Parmesan.

Separate chicken meat from bones and cut meat into bite-sized pieces. Shell shrimp, then split in half along back.

In a small bowl, combine chicken broth, sherry, soy sauce and chile sauce.

Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a 2 1/2-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Saute mushrooms until they begin to wilt, about 5 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.

Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter to pan and saute garlic and ginger for a few seconds. Add rice and stir slowly 3 minutes.

Reduce heat to low and add broth, 1/3 at a time. Stir slowly until rice has absorbed nearly all broth before adding next 1/3 of broth. When rice has absorbed almost all of broth and grains are firm but no longer raw-tasting (about 20 minutes in all), stir in mushrooms, red pepper, pine nuts, chicken and shrimp. Simmer 4 minutes longer to cook shrimp.

Remove from heat and stir in cheese and cilantro. Makes 4 servings.

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