Risotto

First the disclaimer:
I’m sure there are good pictures of risotto in existence, but this isn’t one of them.

BUT, the recipe rocks and is delicious!!!

Here’s the non-great picture-

Now let me say that if you’ve never had risotto, you HAVE to try it.  It is so creamy and delicious, we’ve been known to eat it as a main dish!  And it isn’t as hard as I thought it would be to make!  Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to stir it constantly.  It does take about twenty minutes to make, but I usually start it just as I’m starting our main dish and it’s done at around the same time.

Basic Risotto (6 WW points per serving)
Makes 6 servings
1 Tbs. butter
1 Tbs. olive oil
1/4 cup minced onion (of course i use more)
3 cups broth (I use vegetable, but chicken works well)
1 cup Arborio rice
1/4 cup white wine (I’ve also used red with good results)
Italian seasoning or whatever dried herbs you’d like to use
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (I frequently throw in more)

Two things before we start–
You can’t make risotto with just any kind of rice.  You have to use a short grain, sticky rice like Arborio.  There are other kinds of risotto rice, but Arborio is the most common and easiest to find.
The type of pan you use also makes a difference.  You can use a regular sauce pan, but your dish won’t come out quite as creamy.  Use a saucier pan if you have one.  (It’s the one with a wider top than bottom and sloped/rounded sides.)

1. Put the broth in a small pan on your back burner on a medium heat and bring it to a low boil.
2. Then put your larger saucepan or saucier on the front burner over medium heat, throw in your oil and butter, and heat until your butter melts.
3. Add your rice and minced onion, and cook and stir until they start to get a little golden brown.  (Stir often because they go from golden to burnt in a very short time.)
4. As soon as everything looks golden, pour in your wine and stir for a minute or two to allow the alcohol to burn off a little.  (This is also when I’ll throw in a shake or two of whatever herb sounds good at the moment.)
5. Ladle in enough hot broth to just cover the rice, and stir frequently until most of it has absorbed or evaporated.
6. When most of the liquid is gone, add another ladle of broth and stir it in.
7. Keep that up until your rice is tender but still chewy.  Start checking after you’ve added about two cups of the broth.  (You don’t have to stir constantly, but you don’t want the bottom to burn. Toward the end start adding smaller amounts of broth.  I think I pretty much always use all three cups of the broth, and mine has never been mushy.)
8. Once your rice is done, stir in the cheese and taste to see if it needs salt or pepper.
9. Serve it hot.  (It doesn’t really reheat well and the leftovers aren’t nearly as good as the first time around.)