Risotto al salto is Milan's pan-fried risotto cake: leftover risotto giallo pressed into a thin disc and fried in butter until a golden crust forms on both sides. The classical Milanese Monday lunch.
Where to eat it: 5 restaurants across 1 city.
Risotto al salto (literally 'risotto with a flip') is the canonical use-up dish for yesterday's risotto giallo, codified in 19th-century Milanese kitchen manuscripts and Pellegrino Artusi's 1891 cookbook. The dish takes a portion of cold leftover risotto, presses it into a 1cm-thick disc in a hot pan with butter, and pan-fries it on both sides until a deep golden crust forms. The interior stays creamy. Trattoria Masuelli San Marco serves the canonical version with seasonal toppings (porcini in autumn, asparagus in spring); Ratana modernises it with a sous-vide reheat trick.
Common allergens: Dairy
Tip from the editors. The risotto must be cold and firm. Warm risotto won't hold its shape in the pan; refrigerate overnight, even if you have to skip the leftover-from-yesterday tra
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
Trattoria Masuelli San Marco in Milan's Porta Romana has cooked the Lombard canon since 1921, family-run by the Masuelli family for four generations.
Signature: Risotto alla milanese, Ossobuco, Cassoeula
Order: The risotto alla milanese with bone marrow, the ossobuco and the cassoeula in winter.
Tip: Bookings open ten days ahead by phone. Cash and card; the wine list runs deep on Lombard producers.
Trattoria del Nuovo Macello in Milan's south-east has cooked the Lombard trattoria canon since 1927, near the old slaughterhouse. The risotto giallo and cotoletta al
Signature: Risotto alla milanese, Cotoletta alla milanese, Ossobuco
Order: The risotto alla milanese, the cotoletta alla milanese with bone in, and the ossobuco when on the carte.
Tip: Bookings open one month ahead on the website. Lunch is the calmer service; Friday evening fills up first.
Antica Trattoria della Pesa in Milan's Porta Garibaldi has cooked the Lombard farmstead canon since 1880, in the old grain-weighing house at the city's northern cust
Signature: Risotto alla milanese, Ossobuco, Cassoeula
Order: The risotto alla milanese, the ossobuco and the cassoeula in winter.
Tip: Bookings open one week ahead by phone. The dining room has the original 1880 wood-panel interior; ask for a table by the window.
Ratana in Milan's Isola district is Cesare Battisti's modern Lombard kitchen, housed in a 19th-century railway building since 2009. The risotto giallo and cotoletta
Signature: Risotto alla milanese, Cotoletta alla milanese, Ossobuco
Order: The risotto alla milanese with bone marrow, the cotoletta alla milanese and the ossobuco.
Tip: Bookings open three weeks ahead. Lunch sittings 12:30 and 14:00; dinner from 19:30. The garden is the spot in summer.
Da Giacomo in Milan's Porta Venezia is the Tuscan-seafood dining room of the Bulgheroni family, opened 1989 and a Milanese fashion-week institution.
Signature: Spaghetti allo scoglio, Cotoletta alla milanese, Fritto misto
Order: The spaghetti allo scoglio, the cotoletta alla milanese in the orecchio di elefante form and the fritto misto.
Tip: Bookings open three weeks ahead. The Bistrot Da Giacomo next door is the easier walk-up sister room.
More cities are in research. Want risotto al salto covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.