Sausage Risotto Recipe: How to Make Italian Sausage Risotto
Written by MasterClass
Last updated: Nov 8, 2022 • 2 min read
If you’re looking for a new hearty main course, try making sausage risotto, a meaty version of the versatile Italian dish. Creamy and flavorful, it’s perfect for a classic weeknight meal or dinner party.
Learn From the Best
What Is Sausage Risotto?
Risotto traditionally calls for Arborio rice—a rounded, short-grain white rice with a high starch content—though you use carnaroli rice or even oats or barley as a substitute.
The key to risotto is the cooking method: Sauté the starch and then cook it on low heat as you add ladles of chicken broth. This allows the rice to release its starches gradually, yielding a perfectly al dente result in a creamy sauce. You can add almost any protein or veggies to a risotto. For this meaty version, incorporate Italian sausage into the cooked rice to make sausage risotto. Depending on your flavor preference, you can use either hot or sweet Italian sausage.
Sausage Risotto Recipe
makes
prep time
10 mintotal time
1 hr 5 mincook time
55 minIngredients
- 1
Heat a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat. Using a small, sharp knife, cut open the sausage casing. Add the sausage meat to the pan, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. Cook until the meat turns golden brown, 8–10 minutes. Remove the sausage from the pan and set it aside. Reserve the sausage fat.
- 2
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring broth to a low boil, then reduce heat to low, keeping the broth just below a simmer. You want the broth to be about the same temperature as the rice while it’s cooking.
- 3
In the same sauté pan you used to cook the sausage, heat the butter and the reserved sausage fat over medium-low, then add the shallots. Sauté the shallots until softened and translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and stir continuously until fragrant, about 30–60 seconds. Add rice to the shallot-garlic mixture, season with salt, and stir to combine. Continue stirring until the rice is well coated and starting to become translucent, 2–5 minutes.
- 4
Add about ½ cup warm broth and a splash of wine to the rice mixture. Stir often until the rice has fully absorbed the liquid. Add the remaining broth in ½-cup increments, following each addition with a splash of wine and allowing the rice to absorb liquid between additions, until the rice is al dente, about 25–35 minutes. (You may not need all of the liquid.)
- 5
Remove the pan from the stove and add ½ cup cheese, sausage, and pepper, stirring to combine. Cover and allow to rest 5 minutes. Garnish with parsley and a spritz with lemon, if using. Serve with additional cheese.
Become a better chef with the MasterClass Annual Membership. Gain access to exclusive video lessons taught by the world’s best, including Massimo Bottura, Gabriela Cámara, Niki Nakayama, Chef Thomas Keller, Yotam Ottolenghi, Dominique Ansel, Gordon Ramsay, Alice Waters, and more.