Because you don’t know how to make a proper risotto, I would say. If you know how to make risotto you don’t need to stir continuously. The problem is that most people have no control over the amount of liquid to add, and don’t roast the rice enough before adding the wine, which also means that they need to stir.

The first step to make a proper risotto is roasting the rice. Obviously you are not supposed to use quick rice, you need a proper Arborio, Carnaroli, or Vialone Nano. So, start heating a pan that’s relatively wide but also quite tall, not a frying pan. Add some butter or extravirgin olive oil, add some diced onion or shallot, soften, then add the rice and toast it, stirring more or less continuously, until it becomes translucent and start emitting a kind of very thin whizzing sound (we say that it “sings”). This creates a sort of cuticle on the rice that will, for the moment being, prevent the starch from leaking out, but not too hard so that the starch will leave the rice when it’s time to.

The second step is adding the white wine. Use a dry white wine, something good enough to drink, pour it into the pan then lower the heat. Stir the rice once to make sure that the wine reaches the bottom of the pan uniformly, then let the wine evaporate. Sniff the pan from time to time. When the smell changes from quite astringent to mellow it’s time for the next step.

Time to add the stock. This is where most people make a mistake. They add it a little at a time, and keep stirring. This is totally unnecessary. Instead of adding the stock by individual ladlefuls, add a lot of it. If you are used to making risotto you can gauge how much stock you will need (it usually is enough to cover the rice by about 1 cm, but it may depend on your pan). Add it all at once. If you are less sure about it, add several ladlefuls at once. Stir just one time to allow the stock to reach the bottom of the pan, and leave it be. As long as the rice does not go dry, and as long as you properly roasted it in the fat, it will not stick. If you stir it too often or use a metal spoon to stir it, this will break the cuticle you created, the starch will start to leak out, and the rice will stick to the bottom of the pan. If you didn’t dare adding all of the stock at once, add the rest a bit later, but always stirring only once. When you are good at gauging the liquid you will not need to stir anymore.

When the rice is al dente but also still “all’onda” (it sloshes around the pan a bit, like in the pic), it’s time to turn off the heat, add the butter and cheese and whisk it. Stir it vigorously for a few minutes so that the butter and cheese melt and the starch is released from the rice, combines with the remaining concentrated stock and the fats and creates the creamy consistency. Then let the risotto rest for 2–4 minutes, stir it again before serving.