There’s no such thing as summertime sadness when you can make this bright and refreshing Creamy Lemon Risotto.
Tartlets, come meet the risotto recipe that I’m rockin’ on repeat while pretending I’m in an Italian coastal kitchen.
Why is Creamy Lemon Risotto the book-inspired recipe for The Amalfi Curse?
The Amalfi Curse takes place in Positano, Italy, a hillside town on the dazzling Amalfi Coast. I’ve never been there but I desperately want to go, just for the food alone!
I’ve watched enough TV shows, movies, and Giada in Italy episodes to know that the Amalfi Coast loves its lemons.
I wanted to make an easy but classic Italian dish – risotto – that celebrates lemony brightness and freshness.
Creamy Lemon Risotto is something I can imagine The Amalfi Curse characters Haven and Enzo cooking up together in a seaside villa after returning from a dive in the Tyhrreanean Sea. It’s hearty and carby enough for post-swim nourishment, and its bright, citrusy notes taste like a sun-baked Italian summer.
Don’t be scared to make risotto at home
A lot of people are intimidated by the idea of making risotto at home. Let me be the one to tell you that your fears are unfounded.
Cooking risotto from scratch is one of the easiest meals to make. I go into the hows and whys in my Mushroom Risotto post, so I won’t repeat myself here. Go take a peek at that post, then come back here.
Or, just know that all you need to make a good risotto is time and patience. A rushed risotto is a bad risotto.
Why I love Creamy Lemon Risotto
There’s not much not to love about Creamy Lemon Risotto. It’s a luxuriously rich dish that seems like it’s laden with Bad Things – but the reality is that it’s made with simple, quality, and relatively healthy ingredients.
All the creaminess in risotto comes from the Arborio rice. It cooks low and slow, releasing a starchiness that naturally thickens the dish.
My Creamy Lemon Risotto does add a few tablespoons of mascarpone cheese for extra richness – but you could leave that out and still have a deliciously creamy meal.
Don’t skimp on the grated pecorino romano cheese, though. The sharpness of that cheese blends so well with the brightness of the lemon.
A lot of risottos incorporate fresh herbs, so I stirred some torn basil into the skillet just before serving.
I love the green flecks it added to the relatively beige dish, and it was like being transported right to Italy every time I got a mouthful of lemony rice and fresh basil.
Can you reheat Creamy Lemon Risotto?
Risotto is always best served fresh, and immediately. That said, I’ve cooled, refrigerated, and reheated risotto in the microwave many times, and it’s always still very tasty.
The texture of reheated risotto is a little different – a little more starchy and a little less creamy.
No one’s going to throw it back to you, but if you’re making Creamy Lemon Risotto for company, you want to serve it to them fresh and not leftover for the best risotto experience.
Anyway, there’s a better way to use up leftover risotto: Baked Arancini.
Arancini are Italian rice balls made with – you guessed it – leftover risotto! They make a great appetizer for parties.
My arancini recipe uses cooked Arborio rice that’s not a risotto, but you could easily swap in leftover Creamy Lemon Risotto for the cooked rice and have a similarly tasty result.
What do you serve with Creamy Lemon Risotto?
Creamy Lemon Risotto makes a wonderful lunch or dinner alongside a crisp salad like my Mixed Berry Spinach Salad or Corn, Tomato, and Torn Basil Salad.
You could also serve risotto as a side dish with Chicken Saltimbocca, Baked Sea Scallops, Grilled Rosemary Balsamic Steaks, Raspberry Thyme Chicken, or Baked Flounder with Shrimp Stuffing.
To make this a truly Italian-inspired meal, serve Anisette Cookies or a Blood Orange Tart for dessert.
And, if you can’t get enough lemon? Serve Creamy Lemon Risotto with Lemon Piccata Flounder, a glass of homemade Lemonade, and some Italian Lemon Sprinkle Cookies for dessert.
Creamy Lemon Risotto
Ingredients
- 6-7 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 large shallot
- 1 1/4 cups Arborio rice
- 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup dry white wine (like pinot grigio)
- 3/4 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese
- 2 tbsp mascarpone cheese
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced
- 3/4 tsp Kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup fresh basil (optional)
Instructions
PREP INSTRUCTIONS
- Pour chicken broth into a medium pot on the stove and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Keep broth simmering as you cook the risotto, adjusting the heat level as you use the broth so it stays at a gentle simmer.
- Chop shallot and set aside.
- Grate Pecorino Romano cheese and set aside.
CREAMY LEMON RISOTTO COOKING INSTRUCTIONS
- Heat the olive oil and butter over medium-high heat in a large skillet.
- Add shallots to the skillet and stir to coat, then cook 5-6 minutes until softened.
- Stir the uncooked rice into the shallots. Let rice cook about 4 minutes, until fragrant, then stir in the white wine, deglazing the bottom of the skillet as you go. Cook a few minutes, stirring regularly, until the wine is almost totally absorbed.
- Reduce heat under the skillet to medium. Ladle in ½- ¾ cup of the simmering chicken broth into the skillet. Stir and let cook rice, stirring regularly, until liquid is almost totally absorbed. Repeat the "add-broth-stir-until-liquid-absorbed" process, adding more broth whenever the pan starts to get dry. Be patient – this will take 40-45 minutes.** SEE BELOW FOR RISOTTO COOKING TIPS.
- Once the risotto is cooked through, stir the lemon juice into the skillet and let cook until absorbed.
- Turn off the heat under the skillet and the pot that held the chicken broth. Stir the grated cheese, lemon zest, mascarpone cheese, salt, and pepper into the risotto. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired.
- Tear the fresh basil into small pieces and stir into the hot risotto.
- Serve Cream Lemon Risotto immediately, garnishing with more grated cheese and fresh basil if desired.
