Risotto is one of my all-time favorite fall and winter dishes, and I’ve experimented with so many different recipes over the few years that I’ve been cooking.  Sausage, tomato and spinach risotto, mushroom and pea risotto, champagne risotto with lobster… these have all made repeat appearances on my table, some on special occasions and some on chilly weeknights.  Risotto is simple to make, yet it never fails to impress.  It has become a staple in my kitchen… so I can’t believe it took me this long to try risotto with beans.  I mean, I love risotto, and I love beans.  Put them together and it’s how-come-I-didn’t-think-of-this-sooner good.

This recipe calls for cranberry beans, which are an heirloom bean varietal that I order online from Rancho Gordo.  I’d strongly encourage you to seek out heirloom cranberry beans for this recipe, whether it is through Rancho Gordo, your local farmers market or co-op, or another source.  However, if you are really at a loss for cranberry beans in your neighborhood, and you don’t want to order online, you can substitute dried pinto beans from the supermarket.  Under no circumstances, however, can you use canned beans!  Please trust me on this one.  The key to this risotto’s unbelievable deliciousness is the rice absorbing all of the beans’ pot liquor, which is what bean people call the magical substance that the bean water turns into after the beans have been cooking for a couple of hours.  The pot liquor absolutely makes this dish, and you won’t get it from canned beans.  I’m not saying that canned beans don’t have their role to play – believe me, if that was the case I wouldn’t have to dodge falling cans of cannellini beans every time I open up my crammed pantry.  But canned beans just don’t belong in this dish.  It’s as simple as that.

Cranberry Bean and Spinach Risotto

1/2 cup dried cranberry beans (or pinto, in a pinch)
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 shallot, medium-diced
1 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
4 cups (approx.) low-sodium chicken broth
2 cups baby spinach
1/3 cup Parmeggiano Reggiano

• Start soaking the beans 12-24 hours in advance.  Place the beans in the pot in which you plan to cook them, cover with about an inch of water, put the lid on the pot and allow the beans to soak.  (The longer you soak the beans, the less time you will have to spend cooking them.)

• After the beans have been soaking for a ridiculous length of time, start cooking them: just crank up the heat, bring the beans to a boil, then reduce down to a simmer for an hour or two hours or more.  How long you will cook the beans depends on how fresh they are (yes, there are variations in freshness, even amongst dried beans) and how creamy you like them.  You can tell the beans are done when the entire kitchen smells magical.  Test a bean for doneness periodically, if you think they might be getting close.  Once the beans are cooked through, season them with salt; don’t rush this step.  Seasoning the beans before they are done cooking will make them tough.  So really, wait until the beans are done before you go tossing in a handful of salt.
• When the beans are cooked through and the pot liquor is aromatic, pour in four cups of chicken stock and allow the mixture to come to a simmer.
• Meanwhile, melt a tablespoon of butter with a tablespoon of olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat.  Add the shallot, season with salt and pepper, and cook until softened.  Add the arborio rice and toast until shimmering.
• Pour in the wine and stir the rice until it absorbs the wine.  Working a ladleful or two at a time, continue adding liquid from the broth and bean mixture, adding more when the previous addition has absorbed.  (Nota Baker: It is an urban legend that you have to stir risotto constantly.  You don’t.  I have never made a risotto that I stirred constantly.  You do, however, have to keep an eye on it and stir it often enough that the rice doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot.  I like to stick around and clean the kitchen while I make risotto; that way I am on the premises to stir it plenty, but I am not obsessing.  The bottom line is, you do need to stir and stir often, but you don’t have to spend 30 minutes hunched over the stove stirring obsessively.)
• When you have ladled the majority of the liquid in and it’s mostly beans left in the bean pot, begin ladling the beans in at a bit of a faster clip.  Allow any liquid that came over with the beans in each ladle to absorb before the next ladle.
• Once all the beans have moved over to the risotto – it will have taken on a beautiful burnished golden color; that’s from the pot liquor – add the spinach and stir until wilted.  Finish the risotto off with some grated Parmeggiano Reggiano cheese, or any other cheese/cream/butter routine that you typically do for risotto.  Serve with a little extra cheese grated on top, if desired.

Source: Adapted from Heirloom Beans, by Steve Sando