Port should cover very dry dish (7)
I believe the answer is:
risotto
'dish' is the definition.
(I know that risotto is a type of dish)
'port should cover very dry' is the wordplay.
'port' becomes 'rio' (Rio de Janeiro is a port).
'should cover' indicates putting letters inside.
'very' becomes 'so' (both can mean 'extremely').
'dry' becomes 'tt' (abbreviation for teetotal).
'so'+'tt'='sott'
'rio' enclosing 'sott' is 'RISOTTO'.
(Other definitions for risotto that I've seen before include "Italian recipe" , "dishy thing!" , "It has roots in Italian rice-based dish" , "Perhaps Italian" , "food dish" .)