P
Italian · Valle d'Aosta
Risotto alla Valdostana — Risotto with Fontina and White Truffle
Risotto alla valdostana is the Aosta valley's interpretation of the Italian risotto — made with Carnaroli rice, cooked in a good meat broth, and finished with a generous quantity of Fontina d'Aosta DOP stirred in at the mantecatura stage, which melts through the rice to create a preparation of extraordinary richness and string. In the most luxurious version (autumn, October-November), shaved white truffle from the Piedmont side of the valley is added at the table. The Fontina mantecatura distinguishes this risotto from all others — the cheese's mountain-herb character and its exceptional melting quality produce a consistency that butter alone cannot approach.
I
The Market List
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320 g
Carnaroli rice
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1
shallot
finely chopped
Your own market
60 g
unsalted butter
cold, cut into small cubes; divided — half for soffritto, half for mantecatura
Your own market
120 ml
Blanc de Morgex et de la Vallée
dry white wine; a mineral-character dry white wine may substitute
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1.2 litres
meat broth
good quality, kept at a bare simmer throughout
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
180 g
Fontina d'Aosta DOP
rind removed, cut into small cubes; alpeggio production preferred
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Optional — autumn service only
1
white truffle
brushed clean; shaved at the table to order
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
II
The Method
1
Warm the meat broth in a separate saucepan and hold it at a bare simmer throughout cooking; it must never be cold when it enters the rice. Melt half the butter in a wide, heavy saucepan over a moderate flame. Add the shallot and soften without colour until it is translucent and yielding — 3 to 4 minutes.
2
Add the Carnaroli rice to the pan and toast, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Each grain must be coated in butter and turn faintly translucent at its edges while the centre remains opaque — this is visible at the rim of each grain.
3
Pour in the Blanc de Morgex. Stir without pause until the wine is fully absorbed and no liquid pools at the base of the pan — the sharp mineral scent of the wine will subside as it cooks off.
4
Add the hot broth one ladle at a time, stirring continuously and adding the next ladle only when the previous is fully absorbed. Continue for 18 to 20 minutes. The rice is ready when it is al dente at its heart — firm but without a chalky, raw centre — and the preparation moves as a single slow mass when the pan is shaken.
5
Remove the pan from the heat entirely. This is the mantecatura — the step on which the dish lives or dies. Add the remaining cold butter cubes and all of the cubed Fontina d'Aosta DOP at once. Stir vigorously and without pause for 2 to 3 minutes: the Fontina must melt completely into the rice off the heat; on the heat it will seize and become grainy. The finished risotto must move as a wave — all'onda — when the pan is tilted: fluid, silky, and faintly stringy from the Fontina. Cover and rest for 1 minute.
6
Serve immediately on warm plates. If white truffle is in season, shave it directly over each plate at the table — the heat of the rice releases its fragrance at once.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Fontina d'Aosta DOP from alpeggio (high-pasture summer) production — complex mountain-herb flavour; Blanc de Morgex et de la Vallée for the soffritto; white truffle shaved at the table in season.
02
Estate — Fontina d'Aosta DOP (standard production, non-alpeggio); a good mineral dry white wine from a neighbouring Alpine valley; truffle oil omitted in favour of quality cheese.
03
Market — Fontina d'Aosta DOP sourced from a reliable cheesemonger; any dry, unoaked white wine; white truffle absent — the mantecatura alone carries the dish.
04
House — Fontina d'Aosta DOP is still mandatory — Fontina padana or a generic melting cheese produces neither the herb character nor the correct melting quality, and the result is a different dish entirely.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Sight. The shallot soffritto is ready when it is fully translucent and shows no trace of browning at the edges.
◇Sight. The toasted rice is ready when each grain is coated in butter and faintly translucent at its rim, with the centre remaining white and opaque.
◇Smell. The wine is fully absorbed when the sharp, mineral scent of the Blanc de Morgex has dissipated from the pan.
◇Touch. The rice is cooked when a grain pressed between thumb and finger yields but retains a just-firm centre — no raw, chalky core.
◇Sight. The mantecatura is complete when the risotto moves as a single, slow, shimmering wave — all'onda — when the pan is tilted, the Fontina fully dissolved into a silky, faintly stringy mass.
◇Where it lives or dies. The mantecatura must be performed off the heat: Fontina added to a hot pan seizes and grains, and no amount of stirring will recover the silky, all'onda consistency that defines this risotto.
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Bushmills Malt 10 Year Old
Old Bushmills Distillery · County Antrim — Bushmills Distillery
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Whisky
From British Columbia
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The whole pairingPillar VII
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