Skradinski rižot – rice with slow-braised veal

Remove the thick membranes from the veal leg, weigh out 600 g boneless meat and cut it into approximately 1 cm cubes. Chop the onion very finely. Wash your hands and utensils after handling raw meat. Heat the ready-made strained stock in a separate pot and keep it hot, covered, over low heat, without boiling vigorously. Measure out the initial 500 ml; the remaining 3 l is one shared supply for all the braising and rice cooking. Do not rinse the rice, so it retains its starch.

Heat all the olive oil over low heat in a wide, heavy pot with a thick bottom. Add the onion and cook gently for 40–60 minutes, stirring frequently, until it becomes a very soft, almost uniform mass. Do not brown it heavily. If it starts sticking, add a few spoonfuls of stock from the initial 500 ml. Reserve the rest of that portion to add with the meat.

Add all the veal, the 4 g salt set aside for braising and the rest of the initial 500 ml stock. Bring to a gentle simmer and reduce the heat. Braise for 6–8 hours with the lid slightly open, regularly stirring along the bottom and adding hot stock a ladleful at a time from the single shared reserve of up to 3 l whenever the mixture thickens and starts sticking. Do not let it dry out or boil vigorously. The meat should fall apart completely into fine fibers, and the onion should combine with it into a thick, moist mass. Toward the end, help break up the meat with a wooden spatula. Only move on to the rice once this texture is reached.

Add all the uncooked rice to the fibrous meat base and stir for 1–2 minutes, until evenly coated in the sauce. Add a ladleful of hot stock from the remaining part of the same reserve. Increase the heat only enough to keep the mixture bubbling gently. Keep all the meat fibers, onion and fat in the same pot.

Cook for approximately 25–30 minutes, stirring frequently. Add hot stock a ladleful at a time from the remaining shared supply when the previous addition has been absorbed and the rice starts thickening. The grains should be tender with a little resistance in the center, and the mixture should stay moist and slowly spread when the pot is moved. Do not drain the rice and do not let the dish become dry. The actual amount of stock used depends on evaporation; save any unused stock for another dish.

Finely grate all the cheese. Remove the pot from the heat and add the cold butter, all the cheese, black pepper and nutmeg. Stir vigorously for approximately 1 minute, until the fat combines with the sauce and makes it creamy. If the mixture is too thick, loosen it with a little hot stock from the remaining reserve. Taste and add some of the 4 g salt set aside for finishing only if needed.

Cover the pot and let it rest for 5 minutes. Divide all the risotto among 4 deep plates and serve hot straight away. All the meat fibers, onion, rice and remaining sauce with its fat go into the servings. The texture should stay soft and juicy; do not shape it into a firm, dry mound.