Risotto all'Amarone — Risotto with Amarone Wine

Valpolicella, Verona province, Veneto — the combination of the area's most famous wine with its most central grain preparation is a natural development of the Veronese table. The risotto all'Amarone is documented from the post-war period when Amarone itself became a recognized wine type.

Risotto all'Amarone is the patrician risotto of the Valpolicella: made by treating Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG — one of the most powerful, complex red wines in Italy — as the primary cooking liquid, replacing the standard white wine addition with a full glass of Amarone and using a beef or veal broth for the subsequent ladlings. The rice absorbs the wine's dried-fruit intensity, bitter cocoa, and dense tannin, resulting in a risotto of a dramatic dark purple-red colour and a flavour that is simultaneously rich, bitter, and complex. It is traditionally prepared in autumn and winter, as a main course or a bridge between courses.

• The technique of using a concentrated, powerful red wine as a primary braising or cooking liquid to transform the colour and flavour of a starch or protein — the Burgundian technique of cooking with Pinot Noir and the Venetian technique of cooking risotto with Amarone achieve the same deep infusion of wine character into the food → Bœuf Bourguignon / Coq au Vin Burgundian
• Rice cooked in a dark, concentrated liquid that stains it an intense colour and infuses a dominant, complex flavour — the Spanish arroz negro (rice coloured and flavoured by cuttlefish ink) and the Venetian risotto all'Amarone both use their colouring liquid as a flavour medium → Arroz Negro (Black Rice with Cuttlefish Ink) Spanish

Risotto all'Amarone is dark, intensely flavoured, and slightly bitter — the Amarone's dried-cherry intensity, its tobacco and coffee depth, and its high alcohol have been transformed by cooking into something simultaneously wine and food. The mantecatura cream softens the tannin; the Grana adds salt and sharpness. It is one of the most dramatic risottos in Italy.