The key elements to success are a well-seasoned stock, making sure to “toast” the rice in the fat with the onions, and constant stirring for the twenty minutes it takes to cook the rice. You are trying to draw the starch out of the rice and have it bond with the broth to achieve a starch-thickened sauce that the rice sort of floats in. <br /> <br />Stirring the rice in the broth continuously is the only way to get that starch bonded with the broth so that you get the creamy starchy amalgamation a true risotto demands. You don’t have to stand there moving your arm in a circular motion for twenty minutes, but you should stand over the pot and give it a stir every thirty seconds or so. <br /> <br />Different risotto eating regions of Italy have different consistencies they look for in risotto, from wetter to drier, and I like my rice to be not too dry but more soft and creamy, the consistency of a really creamy rice pudding. But if you like it drier, add a little less broth, and if you like it wetter, add a little more. <br /> <br />

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