Building up the Base

What makes one risotto different from another is what you add to the soffritto, which includes almost everything that is good to eat:

• Any kind of fish, alone or variously combined, dark-fleshed oily fish excepted because of its strong taste; nearly all shellfish.
• Any fresh meat, if ground or diced fine, as well as meat sauce and such cured meats as sausages, ham, and pancetta.
• A wide variety of vegetables and legumes: artichokes, asparagus, bell peppers, broccoli, endive, green beans, mushrooms, peas, radicchio, red cabbage, Savoy cabbage, spinach, tomatoes, zucchini; cannellini beans, chickpeas, cranberry beans, lentils.
• Cheese: either one or several. Herbs: basil, mint, parsley, rosemary, sage, thyme. Spices: allspice, nutmeg, saffron. White or black truffles. Nuts.