Meyer lemons with a few basil leaves perfume the rice. Vibrant extra-virgin olive oil, instead of butter, adds the finishing touch to this lemon risotto. You’ll notice that there’s no chicken stock in this recipe—cooking the rice with water instead allows the lemon flavor to really shine through.

　　

Ingredients

Serves 4

　　2 Meyer lemons

　　4 ounces (115 grams) Parmigiano Reggiano

　　6 cups (1.5 liters) water

　　Extra-virgin olive oil

　　5 fresh basil leaves

　　1 large shallot, finely chopped

　　1½ cups (300 grams) risotto rice, such as nano vialone

　　½ cup (120 milliliters) dry white wine

　　Salt and pepper

　　

Step 1

Zest the lemons and juice them into a cup. Finely grate the parmigiano; you will have about 2 handfuls. Bring the water to a simmer in a medium pot. Coat a wide, heavy saucepan with oil (about 2 tablespoons) and warm 3 basil leaves in it over medium heat until fragrant, about 1 minute. Remove the basil leaves and discard them. Add the shallots to the pan, cook them until soft, 2 to 3 minutes, then add the rice. Using a wooden spoon, stir constantly until the grains of rice are glossy and well coated, about 2 minutes. Raise the heat to high and pour in the wine, stirring until evaporated.

　　

Step 2

Add 2 teaspoons salt to the pot of water. One ladleful at a time, add hot water to the rice, and stir until it’s completely absorbed. Continue adding hot water gradually, only adding more when the rice is ready to absorb it; you will know it’s ready when the bubbling increases and the spoon leaves a slow trail in the rice. Stir after each addition of water and cook until the rice is loose and creamy, and when you bite into a grain of rice it’s barely tender, 18 to 20 minutes (you might have about ½ cup of water left).

　　

Step 3

To finish, stir in the lemon zest and juice. Pour in a stream of olive oil (about 2 tablespoons), stirring the risotto vigorously at the same time. Stir in the parmigiano; add salt if needed. Tear 2 basil leaves in half and stir them into the risotto. Grind pepper over each serving, and drizzle with olive oil.

　　From Via Carota: A Celebration of Seasonal Cooking from the Beloved Greenwich Village Restaurant by Jody Williams and Rita Sodi, with Anna Kovel. Copyright © 2022 by Jody Williams and Rita Sodi. Excerpted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher. Buy the book from Amazon or Knopf.