Risotto With Sausage and Parsley
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:6 to 8 servings
- 1½pounds sweet or hot Italian sausage
- 2tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- ½teaspoon kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 5 to 6cups chicken stock, ideally homemade
- 1 to 2tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1large onion, peeled and diced
- 1½cups Arborio rice
- ½cup dry white wine
- ½cup packed and roughly grated Parmesan, plus more for serving
- ½of 1 lemon
- ½cup finely chopped Italian parsley leaves
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
551 calories; 31 grams fat; 11 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 14 grams monounsaturated fat; 5 grams polyunsaturated fat; 42 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 5 grams sugars; 22 grams protein; 829 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
With the tip of a small, sharp knife, slit open the sausage casings. Crumble the meat into a wide, heavy skillet or Dutch oven, and set over medium heat. If the meat is not rendering enough fat to coat the bottom of the pan as it begins to cook, add olive oil, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the meat is frying gently, not steaming. Sprinkle the salt and pepper over the sausage, and cook, breaking up any large chunks of sausage and stirring occasionally, until the meat is opaque and crisp at the edges, approximately 10 minutes. Remove sausage from pan, and reserve 1 tablespoon of the rendered fat.
- Step 2
Pour the stock into a medium saucepan or pot, and bring to a low simmer.
- Step 3
While the stock heats, return the heavy skillet or Dutch oven to medium-low heat, and add to it the 1 tablespoon reserved sausage fat and 1 tablespoon butter, or 2 tablespoons butter if you don’t want to cook with the sausage fat. When the butter foams, add the diced onion, and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until it is soft and translucent, approximately 5 to 7 minutes. Add the rice, and stir until well coated, adding another tablespoon of fat if necessary. Stir until translucent, an additional 5 to 7 minutes.
- Step 4
Raise the heat under the rice to medium, and add the wine to the skillet. Stir until wine is absorbed, then reduce the heat slightly. Begin adding ladlefuls of hot broth to the rice, stirring constantly and allowing each addition to be absorbed before adding the next. Cook rice until it is tender but slightly chewy, approximately 20 to 30 minutes. You may not need all the broth. You may need more than you have; if additional liquid is needed, you can use boiling water.
- Step 5
Remove the skillet from heat, and add the cheese, stirring to mix it into the rice. Add the sausage to the rice, and stir again. Taste, and adjust seasonings with additional salt and pepper if necessary. Squeeze the lemon over the rice, and then mound the risotto on a large, warmed bowl. Scatter the parsley over the top, and serve immediately, with more grated Parmesan on the side.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Denise
I haven’t prepared risotto in ages... all that stirring! I decided today was the day! It was also a day that my 83yr old mother was coming for dinner. She resides in a memory care facility now. She was a great cook and still loves to help, finding just the right task for her is always rewarding for her . So she stirred, and stirred and stirred while I tended to the rest . Together we created this delish recipe, and a wonderful memory as well❤️.
Suzanne F
Pretty much any risotto can be made into arancini--"little oranges"--fried balls. They hold together well from the starch. Form the leftovers into balls (Ping Pong or golf ball size is usually good). If you like, poke a cube of mozzarella into the middle and close the ball around it. (This gives you suppli--"telephone wires"--as the cheese stretches into strands when eaten.) Coat in panko or dry bread crumbs and fry until golden. Almost reason enough to make risotto!
Prakash Nadkarni
I don't understand the rationale of discarding all but one tablespoonful of the sausage fat/olive oil combination in step 1 and then adding 1-2 additional tablespoons of butter in step 3. The Lard-olive oil combination is both more healthful than butter (lard by itself contains less saturated fat than butter, and the olive-oil addition lowers this further), and would also taste better because it is flavored with the sausage spices.
mzkwooz
I’ll be that person— can I/how do I do this in an Instant Pot?
Sue L
The rationale--if one is really needed--may be that butter lends a unique mellowness that's typical of risotto. And in this instance the recipe's "healthfulness" may not--shock! horror!--be at the top of the requirements list. As to whether it will "taste better," that'll have to remain a matter of you-know-what!
evek
I followed Melissa Clark’s model for risotto in an I.P. and used 4 cups stock, cooked at high pressure for 6 minutes, quick release. PERFECT! Homey and delicious. Don’t forget lemon juice at end. ( I sautéed sausage and everything else in separate sauté pan and then added to IP with broth.)
Dara
add some chopped chard with the sausage for additional nutrition, color, etc, delicious!!!
Carlo Forzani
Thank you Mr. Sifton for this recipe. It reminds me of La Paniscia, the great risotto of Alto Piemonte made with leftover minestrone Novarese, red wine, sausages, and borlotti beans. It is a delicious and iconic risotto made with simple ingredients, an example of la cucina povera. Marcella Hazan has a recipe in Essentials of Classic Italian cooking.
Linda
Uh....?? Why even bother saying you cooked this?
Bill T
or make your own. buy some ground pork and add pepper, garlic, red pepper flakes and fennel to taste.
sue e
Made this today. Delicious. We used 1 lb. Italian sweet sausage and it was plenty. Otherwise, followed the recipe to the letter. Would make it again. Thanks for the recipe and thanks for the notes section. I find it very helpful to hear from other folks who have tried the recipes.
Tim
I love any number of risottos, including this one. I buy good sausage when it is on sale and keep it in the freezer, wrapped individually. When I want some for a recipe like this, I take it some out and while frozen, slice through the casing lengthwise, hold it under warm running water and slip off the casing. For a quick thaw, slice the casing-free sausage into rounds. Ready to cook in a few minutes.
William White
The common misconception when making Risottos is that you have to stir and stir-wrong. Stirring is important after the serial addition of liquid or other ingredients but constant stirring is not.
Excessive Moderation
I sauteed 1.5 thinly sliced leeks(separately) as well as 1 thinly sliced and sauteed fennel bulb which I then added to the sauteed sausage. I did this the day before so that dinner was only stirring. I added thawed tiny peas to the risotto just before serving. Leftovers were invisible.
Bill T
Don't, take the time and cook it properly. ;-)
Sophia Lyons
Halved the rice and used 6 oz. sausage for two hungry people, no leftovers.
Pam
I’m new to making risotto so I followed the recipe except for the amount of Italian sausage. I used one pound instead of the 1 1/2 noted in the recipe. It was very very good. Now I’m very full and very tired!
Barbara
I make this regularly as it isn’t complicated, I add as I have things around seasonally, herbs, corn, squash, fresh tomato at end or for garnish, whatever is around and might need used. Lemon adds that bright acid needed at end, many times I even zest first. After living in Italy for 8 years this takes me back…
Name
Excellent! Used chicken sausages, thyme, sage, spinach and lots of mushrooms
DMC
I agree with others, don’t skip the lemon. I used spicy Italian sausage because I love everything spicy and I didn’t have parsley so used rosemary and thyme. Also added spinach just for some greens. Will definitely make again.
Ann
add mushrooms with onions
A Bit Oily
Between the olive oil, the extra sausage fat, and greasy sausage itself, the end result was overall more oily than I'd like my risotto to be.
Kiara
This was sooo comforting and flavourful! I made this almost identical to how it was written except that I added 1/2 cup of diced fennel at the onion sauté stage because I had some from another recipe and it goes well with the sausage flavour. This recipe is much greater than the sum of its parts. I added lots of fresh lemon and parsley when I served it and guests raved. I will absolutely make this again.
Jed
Nice. Made as written, though with one pound of sausage, which was enough. Note that this is not 6 to 8 portions but really 4.
MRose
We love this....make it regularly. My only comment is that there is no reason (ever) to salt & pepper Italian sausage prior to the completion of a recipe. There is plenty of salt in the sausage and the Parmesan cheese. Complete the risotto and then add salt & pepper to taste. NYT recipes have a tendency to be heavy on salt recommendations.
Lina
I used carnaroli rice, and bulk sausage: 1 lb mild, and 1/2 lb spicy. Used a box of sodium free broth, plus a cup of "better than bouillon" broth. Next time I wouldn't add any additional salt to the recipe. It was delicious! Made as directed, while also following a couple of the tips here (stirring every 30 - 45 seconds - not constantly, and toasted the rice for only about 2 minutes): https://www.foodandwine.com/how/risotto-mistakes-avoid-from-italian-chef?utm_campaign=foodandwine_foodandwine
Christina
Made this in slow cooker with surprisingly good results! I browned the sausage, cooked the onion, rice, and reduced the wine in a skillet, then transferred the whole thing to a slow cooker with 4 cups broth, set to high for 1.5 hours, stirring once in between. Stirred in the cheese at the end. Delicious and really close to the texture when I make it fully on the stove! In the future I’d add the sausage at the end like in this recipe since it lost some of the crisp, but otherwise it was great!
Paola Bellini
I really can't believe that someone is suggesting to cook arborio rice for 20 to 30 minutes plus 5 to 7 in the fat. After 37 minutes you will eat poster glue for sure: 18 minutes are more than enough, trust me.
JoanC
Oh my. Run, do not walk to the grocery store and buy what you need to make this, immediately. I used 1 cup of rice and two sausage links (about 11 oz) and it was the perfect balance between the amount of rice and the amount of sausage. It is deliciously rich and easy to make; next time I think I'll add peas. Thanks, Sam.
Joe DiStefano
I do this recipe with my Dad's recipe for Sicilian sausage (has ground fennel and fennel seeds, plus red wine). But I add a fair amount of roasted green peppers to the mixture at the end.....reminds me of the sausage and pepper sandwiches my Dad used to make..... Buon pranzo.
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