Ris e latt is Milanese dialect for the Italian riso e latte, rice and milk. It sounds dull – it is not. It is a warming, un-showy but far from boring minestra (soup) from Lombardy: risotto rice simmered in a copious quantity of full fat milk and water, mildly flavored with a little onion and bay leaf, enriched in the end by a generous amount of butter and Parmesan, a touch of freshly grated nutmeg and a shower of chopped parsley. There are many versions of this dish: I prefer it soupy but it is also possible to make it thicker, although it should not be risotto-like. Some people cook the rice with milk only (too rich for me) and others start with cooking some chopped onion in butter and then add all the other ingredients. I have also seen versions with chestnuts (cooked, vacuum-packed chestnuts now easily available) and even with potatoes added to the liquid at the very beginning.
Elegantly subdued, creamy-white and speckled with parsley, ris e latt is almost a culinary relict, one of those dishes rooted in a type of home cooking now almost defunct in Italy. Full fat milk? Butter and Parmesan? Too much for these cholesterol-obssessed and fat-fearing days. Sad. There is a soothing, nursery quality to this dish that I find alluring. Ris e latt suits these cold months beautifully and it is one of those Italian dishes that can be very successfully replicated here in the UK, where excellent milk and butter are easily available.
Ris e latt – Riso e latte/Milk and rice soup
For 6
full fat milk, there is no point in making this soup with anything else – 1.5lt
water – 500ml
half a white onion and half a bay leaf
risotto rice – 300g
unsalted butter – 50g
freshly grated Parmesan – be generous
freshly ground nutmeg and black pepper, to taste
chopped parsley – 2 tablespoons
Bring milk, water, onion and bay leaf to the boil. Add some salt and taste it: I generally fish out the bay leaf now because I do not want its flavor to dominate, but it is really up to you. Add the rice and simmer until it is tender, partially covered, stirring from time to time. Remove the onion at the end, add the butter, the Parmesan, the parsley and a little grated nutmeg and black pepper. Pass extra Parmesan around at the table.
Notes
Many variations are possible:
With chestnuts or potatoes: add some cooked vacuum-packed chestnuts or peeled and cubed floury potatoes to the water and milk in the beginning and proceed as per recipe.
With pumpkin: add cubed pumpkin to the water and milk in the beginning. Instead of bay leaf, I would use a couple of leaves of sage and proceed as per recipe.
With leeks or savoy cabbage: this is not traditional but it does work: add finely sliced leeks or savoy cabbage towards the end of cooking, to that they do not overcook. The contrast between the crisp, but fully cooked vegetables, and the sweet-savory broth is very good.
Italian home cooking 
Ciao Stefano, I made the soup after converting it to American measurements. It is delicious! It definitely reminds me of my grandmother’s soup. Thank you! I will be making this a lot on cold winter days.
Pam
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I am so glad. To be able to go back to our childhood’s food memory is magic. thanks for letting me know
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Thank you for this recipe! My grandmother is from a very small village near Switzerland north of Mobegno used to make this. I loved it but she never wrote down her recipes so I have not been able to make it. I have grandchildren and I want it for them. Now I can!
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ciao Pam
I hope this works a little magic:childhood recipes are the most elusive. Let me know how It goes. thanks, Stefano
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Richard! I have been searching for this recipe as well since my mother passed away 13 years ago. She was Irish but my father was Swiss Italian and my mom learned to make what we also called “Ris e Lach” from my Italian grandmother. Oftentimes, mom would add macaroni in with the rice, not sure where that originated. Unfortunately, my sister, who was the remaining family member to speak Italian, recently passed away. Stefano – thank you SO much for sharing this recipe. My brother has been asking me to make it and unfortunately I did not remember how. We live in the U.S., so I will convert to U.S customary measurements and make this Friday – growing up, it was always a standard dish in our household during Lent. Mille grazie!
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Janet, my apologies first of all… I missed your comment.. I thought I had reply to it, but I clearly did not. Really glad if this turns out to be similar to what you know. The danger or “childhood food memories” is that the real thing cannot really live up to what we remember. This is simple, honest eating. nothing too precious… let me know if you have tried. ciao, stef
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I have been looking for this recipe for decades. I’m in my 70’s. My mother made it when I was a child, but I never got the recipe. We are Ticinese (Swiss Italian (father) and Italian (mother)). My mother made it with whole kernel corn added. We called it Ris e Lach.
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Ciao Richard, thanks for yr memories (and apologies for being late in replying). Do u still live there and speak Italian? ris e lach, plus corn… was this a dish made at corn harvesting? never heard of this variation but it makes sense: the corn adds even more sweetness. (and the off white colour speckled with yellow must be gorgeous)
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