Like most people I know, I really like risotto. It's just that little bit naughty while still being acceptably nice, and when made right it has the most wonderful flavour and texture. Risotto is prepared by a very traditional method, it's not just a mixture of rice and other ingredients. In Italy, it is never made with leftovers, and most often the added ingredients are cooked together with the rice infusing all of the flavours and textures together. Quite often there are very few ingredients other than the rice and a flavouring. The truly essential ingredients required are a good stock, butter, usually cheese and of course, risotto rice.

Besides being one of our biggest selling products at The Essential Ingredient, risotto is also one the things that we get those most questions about from our customers. We have a good variety of rice on our shelves and hopefully this guide may make choosing one a little easier. (Remember, when choosing rice, as with most other things in life, you get what you pay for!) Once you've experimented with each type you may aspire to having a favorite just like Steve Manfredi or Sean Connolly (our newly one-hatted chef from Astral Restaurant), or Marco Balestrini (our wonderful Italian importer). Each of these experts has been kind enough to share a recipe for their favorite risotto or some new wisdom to help get our risotto just right.

What type of rice should I use?

There are three main varieties of risotto rice readily available - carnaroli, vialone nano and arborio. The most important characteristic of risotto rice is that it swells and absorbs enormous amounts of liquid without breaking up or becoming mushy.

Arborio is probably the most common risotto rice. It is very easily overcooked so you must be extra vigilant and careful or the risotto will end up soggy and fragile. For this reason it is perhaps not the ideal rice for someone who has never made risotto before. It is the cheapest and most readily available in shops and supermarkets, however, and it has a slightly higher 'stickiness' or starch rating, which makes it good for timbales or arancini or very very creamy risottos such as sweet vanilla risottos or puddings.

With Arborio, more than any of the other varieties, the quality of the rice will effect the result. In other words some of the really cheap supermarket brands of 'mediteranean style' risotto rice will make horrible risotto no matter how careful you are.

Carnaroli rice has wonderful absorption properties. It releases enough starch to make the rice creamy but not sticky, and the grains still remain firm (or al dente). It is the most dependable variety, so even if you're not a risotto expert you can still achieve great results.

Nano has a shorter grain than the other risotto varieties. It has a high absorption and is not too sticky, however it has quite a different texture overall when cooked. The grain itself is far harder, so the centre of the grain remains quite al dente. It is generally used to make risottos with slightly soupier texture and is popular for fish based recipes.

Can I use any other rice to make risotto?

No, you cannot use another rice to make risotto. Risotto rice has a 'pearl' in the centre. In fact on inspection of a grain of risotto rice you should be able to clearly see the white pearl in the center of the grain. During cooking the outside starch dissolves into the liquid and the interior absorbs liquid and swells. Other rices do not behave like this and quickly get gluggy and sticky. Risotto should never be gluey; it is always moist and creamy.

Is there any special cooking equipment needed to make risotto?

A sturdy large squat pan with a good heavy base is ideal. The rice needs room to expand and absorb liquid evenly. With a wide bottomed pot the rice is spread out enabling more of it to be in contact with liquid and heat. It needs to be big enough to accommodate the cooked rice, which can expand up to three times its original size. The Mario Batali range, available in store at Crows Nest, features a risotto pot. There are also various other casserole style pots in stainless steel suitable for the job. The cooking pot needs to have a lid as the last minutes of cooking risotto require it to be covered and rested for several minutes.

Always make risotto with a good stock. The stock must be heated and used while hot so that the rice is not cooking in cold stock each time it is added. The gradual stirring and breaking down of the rice is what contributes to the creaminess. The final stirring and addition of butter and parmesan at the finish is called mantecatura by the Italians. It could be the singular most important step in making a fantastic risotto.

When the risotto is ready, add a knob of butter and (unless seafood) a couple of tablespoons of parmesan. Stir vigorously, put the lid on and let it stand for a few minutes.

Risotto should always be made just before serving, however, if you are having guests and don't want to be in the kitchen for 20 minutes, you can use this method: Saute the onion and the rice adding the wine. Add up to approximately 200 ml of the stock, bring it back to a boil, then turn off the heat and put the lid firmly onto the pot. When you return you will be able to finish the risotto by the usual method.

What's the real secret to perfect risotto?

Traditionally risotto came from the north of Italy, the area where most of the rice is grown. Seafood risotto probably originated in the harvest of the waterways around Venice. Traditional flavours are only part of the story of risotto, however. Today the flavours are limited only by the cook's imagination. My advise however is this: don't get too tricky. Less is more and quality of ingredients is probably the single most important factor to making a truly excellent risotto.

This brings me back to the new and wonderful rices that we have recently introduced to the store. One them is grown by a family in Vercelli in Piedmont. They only grow carnaroli rice, which is the most difficult to grow and has a very low yield per hectare. Since 1934, three generations have cultivated this rice and since 1992, organically. Their rice is aged in stainless steel temperature controlled silos for a minimum of one year, when it is poured into beautiful resealable tins. The aroma of this rice is the first thing you notice when the vacuum is broken. They really do age the rice! The reason for this is that the rice dries over a long period in controlled conditions. The grain retains only the tiniest amount of moisture which enables the rice to absorb the maximum possible amount of stock when being cooked. The core is solid making the possibility of gluey, gluggy or sticky risotto impossible. Marco Balestrini brings this rice into Australia and, in his best Italian accent states that no matter what you do to this rice when you cook it, you cannot mess it up. It is called Acquerello and it is available in 500g tins. Once you use this rice you will love it. Pair it with our truffled parmesan and you will be hooked. The other important new addition to our stable is the semi-integrale vialone nano. Integrale in Italian means 'wholemeal'. This means this rice is as close to a high fibre risotto as you're going to get. Good news for those people that just can't get enough risotto. We did a special tasting in the store in August and all who tried the finished product were impressed.

Well known chef Stefano Manfredi tells us that he prefers to cook with carnaroli rice. His secret to a good risotto is time, hence his choice to use carnaroli because it sucks up more stock and stays al dente longer. The more stock the rice absorbs, the richer and creamier the result will be. His second choice is vialone nano rice because the smaller grain takes less time to cook while still remaining creamy, which makes it good if you're in a hurry.

Stefano was born close to Milan and loves to make the classics that come from this region. Around Milan and in close-by Piedmont and Lombardy you can find the rice growing country where risotto was born. There is little seafood used here, so you will find that classic risottos are made with mushrooms, truffles and meats. The classic Risotto Milanese, made using saffron, is from his home region.

The two risottos that Steve likes to make the most are Porcini and Milanese.

Sean Connolly from Astral restaurant prefers a soupier texture and a less creamy result, and generally likes to use vialone nano. His favourite risotto at the moment is Risotto Nero, made with squid ink. This can be served with barbequed octopus and smokey roast tomatoes, or with a beautiful piece of pan-fried fish and tiny capers. It's also wonderful stuffed into some cuttlefish and served with a tomato and saffron sauce.