Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Creamy and Cheesy: A Labor of Love


Yep, I'm talking about risotto. I've made it once before, a smoked gouda version you can find here. This time I kept it simple, just a basic parmesan risotto. The recipe came from the pioneer woman and it was FANTASTIC!! This, by itself, was my meal. The hubs wasn't too thrilled to have a dinner that didn't include meat, but he had to work late and tonight I was cooking for me. I put the leftovers in the fridge in case he wants some when he comes home, but I won't be surprised if I find them in the same spot I left them tomorrow morning. Oh well, that just means I'll have a yummy lunch tomorrow!

PW’s Perfect Risotto
Source: The Pioneer Woman
-my changes/additions are in italics


1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 small or 1/2 medium onion - I used 1 shallot
3 to 4 cloves garlic
1 pound Arborio rice - I used Jasmine rice because it's what I had
7 to 8 cups chicken broth
1 to 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 cups (total) grated Parmesan, Romano, and/or Asiago cheese - I just used parmesan
Salt & Pepper to taste
Chopped chives - I used chopped cilantro since I had some that was about to go bad.

Heat oil in large skillet, then add chopped onion and garlic and cook until soft. Dump in 1 pound dry Arborio rice, and stir to coat. Then add the broth, in 1-cup increments, stirring after each addition until liquid is absorbed. Rice is done when it no longer has a hard bite. After all liquid is absorbed, add cream, cheese, salt & pepper, and stir to combine. Stir in chives and serve immediately.

This recipe makes a TON of risotto. I am going to freeze some of mine and see how it reheats. This recipe could easily have been halved and still fed the 2 of us for a few days. LOL!



4 comments:

deLa said...

i did not know you could sub out the rice in risotto.... hmmm i might actually have to make it now!

also - the first picture is great!

Jaime said...

You probably aren't supposed to use other rice, but I needed to use what we had before buying more. It tasted great though, even though probably not as good as if I had used the "correct" grain. LOL

Anonymous said...

Your risotto looks perfect! One thing I do with left over risotto is to form it into patties and pan fry them. The cheese makes it hold together and the end result is a lot like a latke.

I'm surprised the jasmine rice worked as well as it did. I generally recommend that if a substitution for arborio is needed to go wtih a short grain, starchier rice. Glad it worked out with the long grain rice you had on hand!

Nicole said...

This looks great! Soooo yummy! I need to stop blogging and go eat before I die. My husband wouldn't be thrilled either. He thinks risotto is too fancy. He wants plain rice.