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1
The day before: cover the drained Saluggia beans with cold water, add the sage and rosemary, and simmer until the beans are just tender but still intact. Remove from heat, season lightly with salt, and leave the beans in their liquid. Reserve both beans and all cooking liquid separately.
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2
Melt the lard in a wide, heavy-based pan over a medium flame. Add the diced onion and the cubed salame della duja. Render and caramelise slowly until the onion is soft and golden and the salame fat has run into the pan, forming a rich, perfumed base. The fat should be visibly coloured and aromatic.
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3
Add the dry rice directly to the pan. Toast in the salame fat for 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until each grain is coated and the rice smells faintly of toasted starch.
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4
Pour in the Barbera. This is where the dish lives or dies: the wine must be absorbed completely before any stock is added — do not rush or dilute it. The risotto should turn a deep red-brown as the wine cooks in. When the pan is nearly dry and the wine smell has mellowed, proceed.
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5
Add the hot bean-and-stock liquid one ladleful at a time, allowing each addition to be absorbed before adding the next. Maintain a steady simmer throughout. Continue for approximately 15–16 minutes, or until the rice is almost but not fully cooked — it should still have a slight resistance at the centre.
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6
In the final 5 minutes of cooking, fold in the reserved Saluggia beans gently. They must retain their shape; add a further ladle of hot liquid if the pan looks tight. The beans warm through and bind with the starch of the risotto without dissolving.
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7
Remove from heat. The finished panissa must be all'onda: when the pan is shaken, the risotto waves across the base — looser than most risotti. Plate immediately; no further fat is beaten in.