Risotto

Ahh risotto. Where have you been all my life? Honestly, I've been too scared to actually make it, plus never figured Brian would actually like it. (Sadly he's not a big fan of rice.) Now is the time to conquer all fears. Well, except my intense fear of snakes. But we're talking about food here, not snakes.

What was I so scared of? Risotto is one of the intimidating food items to make, however, once you make it, you realize it's so simple. All you do is stir! Stirring is easy!

Make sure you have all ingredients chopped and ready beforehand. Risotto, while pretty easy to make, does need babysitting.

Since I had never made it before and had no clue what I was going into, I used a variety of risotto recipes as my guide. I did use this recipe from Giada as a guide on the measurements, however did not use some of the same ingredients. With these measurements, this risotto makes more of a side-dish portion, and not a main dish portion, as I had hoped. Brian did say that this was the best rice he had ever eaten, which is a huge feat to accomplish since he does not do rice. For that reason, it will be a make again in our house, but since my measurements did not produce enough, this recipe will be one that needs some changes.

Risotto
3 1/2 - 4 cups low sodium chicken broth
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 finely chopped shallot (or small onion)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Bring broth to a simmer over medium-high heat. Once it comes up to a simmer, turn the heat down to low.

Put the olive oil into a heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add the shallot and saute until translucent. Stir in the garlic and saute for 30 seconds. Stir in the rice and cook for about 2 minutes until the rice is toasted. Add the wine and stir until it is absorbed, about 1 minute. Add 1/2 cup of hot broth; simmer over medium-low heat until the liquid is absorbed, stirring often, about 6 minutes. Repeat, adding 1/2 cup of hot broth and stirring until liquid is absorbed. Continue this process until the rice is just tender and the mixture is creamy. (I kept tasting mine to make sure it was done, having never made it before.) Stir in the parsley. Add the 1/2 cup of Parmesan. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Spoon into bowls and serve.