Risotto

My latest food obsession: risotto. This is actually a very simple dish to make, it merely takes a little time and patience. It has a wonderful blend of creaminess, salty and savory.

To make this dish you will need:

1 small sweet onion, (such as a shallot), diced
1/2 sweet pepper, (such as a yellow bell), diced
1 cup arborio rice
3 cups broth (any kind you like)
1/4 cup dry white wine
2/3 cup grated Parmesan
olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

To start put your broth in a pot and heat it until it is hot...and don't make bad rhymes like me ;) Keep it warm while cooking, as you will be slowly adding it to your rice mixture and you don't want to shock the rice and have it not cook properly. Heat a skillet on medium/medium high heat with a little oil. You don't want it to be so hot that you would scorch the dish, but hot enough to keep it cooking at a hot temperature (not warm). You will be continually stirring it, so there should be little chance of that happening. To begin, throw the onions and peppers into the skillet along with the arborio rice.

Just a little lesson on this rice, arborio is a short grained Italian rice. It has a higher starch content than other rices, which attributes to the creamy texture that is achieved. The center of the rice is sometimes referred to as the pearl. This is because as it is cooked, and it slowly reaches the center it opens it's riches and reaches the state of creaminess.

While continually stirring, you want your onions to become translucent, the peppers to be soft, and the rice to become toasty brown. Once you have reached this point add the wine to the skillet and allow it to cook for about a minute to boil off the alcohol. Make sure you scrape up any bits stuck on the bottom of the pan, you don't want to miss any of the flavor! Now, add one ladle full of the stock and stir until most of the stock has been absorbed by the rice. Repeat this step until either all of your stock is used up or the rice is firm, but not crunchy to the taste. Finally, add the cheese and salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle a couple of tablespoons of olive oil over the top and it's ready to serve!

You can make many different varieties of risotto by changing out the things you add to it, such as panchetta (an Italian bacon) or regular bacon, sun-dried tomatoes, or chicken. You could also add fresh herbs to it after it has been cooked such as chives, rosemary, or cilantro. You could even use a different kind of cheese, or omit the additives other than the cheese and have a very simple risotto! Try it soon, you won't be sorry!