This is another mainstay of the rice-producing areas of the Veneto, and is, by comparison with some creamy risotti, rather odd -- tastasal is the stuffing used to make salami, and indeed the housewives of the Bassa Veronese would make this risotto to judge the seasoning of their salami before putting the filling into the casing. To serve 4 you'll need:
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 3/4 cups (350 g) short-grained rice, ideally Vialone Nano
- 14 ounces (350 g) tastasal or mild Italian pork sausage
- 1 clove garlic
- A small onion, sliced fairly finely
- Freshly grated nutmeg (about an eighth of a teaspoon to begin with, or more to taste, but go easy as it is strong)
- Grated Parmigiano to taste
- Beef broth (have a quart simmering)
- 1/4 cup (50 g) unsalted butter
Preparation:
To begin with, a couple of words about the meat: In preparing it, you can make salami stuffing (see here for a Tuscan salami recipe that will work), but your best bet will be to visit a butcher who makes northern Italian cold cuts and purchase some fresh raw salami stuffing. Or, in a pinch, you could use mild Italian sausage instead, crumbling it up. In terms of proportions, the rice and tastasal should be about equal.Begin by ladling 3/4 of the broth into a second pot and adding the rice to it. While it's cooking, melt the butter in a broad skillet. Crumble the tastasal into it, add the onion and the garlic, and simmer the mixture, turning it occasionally. When the rice is about 3/4 cooked, stir in the tastasal mixture, and continue cooking the rice, stirring, until it's done. Dust with freshly grated cheese and a little nutmeg, let sit covered for a couple of minutes, and serve.
Some cooks follow a slightly different tack, adding most of the tastasal mixture when the rice is 3/4 cooked, and some of the cheese as well, and then adding the remainder just before serving the risotto. Others add cinnamon instead of nutmeg, and others still season the filling with some rosemary as they're simmering it (at this point they are, obviously, sure of the seasoning of their salami), or add a splash of white wine to the simmering tastasal mixture. Others make riso con le salsicce by using fresh mild sausage instead of salami filling.
