Judy Rodgers One-Pot Citrus Risotto

RISOTTO has a reputation for being needy: Needing one pot for simmering stock and another for the rice to plump up and make its own silky sauce. Needing to be continuously ladled and stirred, ladled and stirred. The whole act can be meditative and even fun—in a witch-standing-over-a-bubbling-cauldron sort of way—but, as it turns out, all that effort is not strictly needed. As Judy Rodgers, the late chef and driving force behind San Francisco’s Zuni Café, wrote in The Zuni Café Cookbook, “I started experimenting with cold, warm, and hot stock and found I could make a creamy risotto with any one.” She also wasn’t concerned about how often you add more stock, as long as the grains don’t dry out. “It is only the final doses that require thoughtful judgment, to make sure you don’t add more stock than an al dente grain needs.” This means you can grab any stock out of your fridge or pantry to start your risotto—and roam the kitchen making salad and putting away dishes as it cooks, no longer tethered to the pot. “This convenient heresy alarms even longtime cooks at Zuni,” she continued, “but it has not failed me.” In this citrus version, Judy stirred in chunks of fresh grapefruit and lime that dissolve into colorful flecks, but you can use her convenient heresy with any mix-ins you like.[tasty-recipe id="10040"]