Risotto

I love to cook, and ever since I learned of this delicious substance called, Risotto, I've been wanting to make some of my own.

It was a fun experience.

Fun, as in... a lot of work, but amazing flavors.

Risotto, a rice cooked with broth till reaching a creamy consistency, requires close monitoring and frequent stirring. Yet the depth of flavor and textures in each mouthful is well worth the time. At least Noah (my 9 month old) and I thought so. My husband, who enjoyed every bite, wasn't sure it was worth the 40 minutes of stirring over the stove.

He does have a point there.

It's definitely labor intensive for a mom with a handful of little ones. But! I wanted to give it a try. And now that I've made it once, I'm sure I can multi task and get other dinner preparations completed while it is cooking.

 Here's the basic recipe. You can add a variety of vegetables at the last step (mushrooms being the most common) to change things up.

Classic Risotto

1 T butter
1 cup Aborio Rice
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1/2 cup white wine
3 1/2 cups hot chicken broth

1/2 cup Parmesan or Romano cheese, grated
1 T Butter


Bring 3 1/2 cups chicken broth to simmer over stove while preparing other ingredients.

Then, in a separate heavy sauce pan, melt butter, and saute rice for 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add chopped onion and minced garlic until onion is tender, being careful not to burn garlic.

Add wine to rice mixture and saute until rice has absorbed the wine.  Slowly add broth, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring frequently and allowing all the liquid to be absorbed before adding more broth. Continue adding until liquid is absorbed and broth is gone. By this time, rice should be creamy and al dente to bite. Remove from heat, immediately stir in 1 T butter and cheese.  Serve immediately.