Ok, so you caught me, this post has absolutely nothing to do with real estate (other than it is a realtor who is posting it :p )! However, I was chatting with some tweeps on twitter today and mentioned that I was making risotto for dinner. I had shown houses all day long in the cold Western Massachusetts winter weather and was ready for a hearty and warm meal. A fellow realtor @kathy_jackson asked for the recipe and it got me to thinking that I don’t HAVE a recipe.
I told her I would try to write it out for her and so here it goes! Now for those of you who have never had risotto, it is the most lovely of winter side dishes (or main dish sometimes) and is creamy, savory and delicious! You can flavor it a million different ways and once you get the hang of the basic recipe it is a lot of fun to experiment with the flavors.
This traditional Italian rice dish is a terrific clean out the fridge item as you can adapt the ingredients easily once the base is created. My risotto is not traditional (but it is yummy!), for traditional recipes I can recommend www.allrecipes.com.
Base ingredients:
Aborio Rice
Brown Rice
Wild Rice
Chicken broth
Lemon juice
White wine
Onion
My favorite additions:
Roasted garlic
Goat or Feta Cheese
#1-Melt a half a stick of butter and a small amount of olive oil in a pot. Add onion and saute until tender. Add 1cup Aborio rice, 1 cup brown rice and 1/2 cup wild rice and saute until rice is browned.
#2- Add 1 cup white wine and 1/3 cup lemon juice (juice is optional). This will cause the pot to smoke up a bit. Allow liquid to absorb.
#3- Add 1 cup pre-warmed broth. Allow to absorb and continue to add until the rice if fluffy and creamy. Can take anywhere from 3-4 cups broth.
#4- Allow risotto to set for 5 minutes.
#5- Add optional ingredients. The combo I made tonight: 1/2 cup feta cheese, chopped black olives, quartered artichoke hearts, roast garlic. Another favorite: roasted garlic (can you tell I love it?), goat cheese and steamed broccoli. I have also made it with sweet potato and parmesan. bacon and sweet onions…the options are endless!
Now go forth and create!
