Panissa Vercellese con Fagioli di Saluggia e Salame
Vercelli, Piedmont
The signature risotto of Vercelli — the heart of Italian rice country — made with Vialone Nano or Arborio rice grown in the Vercellese paddies, Saluggia beans (a local borlotti variety), Barbera wine, and cubed salame della duja (salame preserved in lard, with a distinctive soft, spreadable texture). Panissa is the opposite of the Milanese saffron risotto: rustic, earthy, bean-and-pork-driven, stained red-brown by the Barbera. It is considered the older, more honest rice tradition of the Po plain.