risotto
- 1An Italian savory dish made by simmering rice slowly in broth together with other ingredients.
The chef finished the risotto with a knob of butter and grated cheese.
A good risotto needs constant stirring so the grains release their starch.
Note
The name itself carries the grain: Italian risotto is built on riso, "rice." English keeps two plurals side by side. One is the anglicized risottos, and the other is the Italian risotti, which food writers such as Valentina Harris and Damon Lee Fowler use. Like most dish names, it is countable for a particular preparation (a creamy risotto) and uncountable for the food in general. That rice-built name is what makes the rice-free version a stretch.
- 2A dish prepared in the same slow, creamy style as the Italian rice version but made without rice, using another ingredient in its place.
She served a pearl barley risotto that swapped grains for the usual rice.
The menu featured an orzo risotto, faithful to the technique yet entirely free of rice.
Note
Here the name outlives its own etymology. The ingredient that replaces the rice is named first, as a modifier, so "a pearl barley risotto" signals the swap before the noun arrives. Without that word in front, a reader assumes rice. With it, risotto names the style of the dish rather than its grain.
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Origin
Borrowed from Italian risotto, which comes from riso meaning "rice".