Risotto Fo Sho

One thing I hear people gripe about making risotto is that you famously have to stand at the stove while stirring the entire time you're making it. It's not like it's hours, but still, some people aren't into it. I'm pretty sure they have methods now where you can set it and forget it when it comes to risotto, but I'm not about to get crazy with it. I don't mind the cooking, so I'm about to dive in!

I never had a huge desire to make risotto until I tasted it. Let me set the scene. I'm working away in the office of a scary, nearly empty high school at night for a local adult education program. There's a cooking class going on so I'm smelling things alllll night long. I'm intrigued. The instructor comes into the office and sees my unspoken need for food and offers for me to come taste. Obviously, I follow. What happened next could only be described as mind blowing. This risotto was so creamy and delicious and salty- just call me Julie Andrews because that's just all of my favorite things! My instant thought was that I needed to inhale all of it, then I got a grip and just verbalized that I needed the recipe and continued to eat. Recipe in hand, I vowed to at least attempt this dish! I have tweaked it a bit to my tastes, but risotto is a dish you can literally make it with anything you want, so go for it!

So now I can say my first experience with this fancy-ish food was through a cooking class at a high school. Classic.

-1/2 cup Arborio rice
-1 cup white wine
-3 1/2 cups chicken stock
-1/2 cup parmesan cheese: grated
-1/2 lemon: juiced
-2 tbs butter
-1 sweet onion: chopped
-1/2 cup heavy cream
-1 bay leaf
-1 cup asparagus: cooked and chopped
-Salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook the asparagus, set aside (I roasted mine- SO DELICIOUS).
2. In a sauce pot on low heat, begin to warm the chicken stock (better to add the stock to the rice when it's warm). You don't want this to boil, just keep warm.
3. In a larger skillet or pan on medium, melt the butter and begin to sauté the onion with some salt, pepper, and the bay leaf for about 5 minutes or until the onions become translucent.
4. When the onions begin to become translucent, and add the rice- stir to coat it all in the butter and onions.
5. Deglaze the pan with the wine- make sure you get all those yummy bits of flavor!
6. When the wine has begun to evaporate, ladle in the warm chicken stock one ladle at a time. Add the stock and stir until the rice has absorbed most of the liquid. Don't let it get too dry and boil, but do wait for the absorption to happen. Repeat this until all the stock is gone and your rice is thick and creamy. This should take around a half hour.
6. Off the heat, remove the bay leaf, add the cooked asparagus, parmesan cheese, cream, and the lemon juice. Adjust your seasonings and stir to combine everything. You're done!

This can be a main dish depending on what you add to it or in my case, it can be a side- whatever you want it to be! I roasted some chicken and that was that! Like I said before though, you can put anything in this dish. I do notice a lot of people are really into mushrooms, peas, bacon, and short ribs to name a few. I'll definitely be adding this to my dinner rotation, it's so yummy and comforting! 


Meaghan