Another risotto recipe!!! We sure do love the risotto!!! How can I top the Tomato Risotto? I can’t, I don’t think ever, but since I have my awesome risotto pan, I’m going to keep trying new recipes

Ingredients include:
(Try to use organic!)
• 1 head of garlic
• 1 tsp of extra virgin olive oil
• 6-8 cups reduced sodium vegetable broth
• 5 Tbsp unsalted butter, divided into 4 Tbsp and 1 Tbsp
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 cups of chopped crimini mushrooms
• 2 cups arborio rice
• 1 cup dry white wine (such as Sauvignon Blanc)
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese + more to liking
• salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Slice the top off the head of garlic. Put it on a large square of aluminum foil and drizzle 1 teaspoon of the extra-virgin olive oil over the exposed cloves. Wrap the foil around and over the garlic. Roast until it is soft, about 50 minutes to 1 hour. Remove from the oven and let cool. (For more information on how to Roast Garlic, I found this web page: http://whatscookingamerica.net/rstgarlic.htm.)

For the RISOTTO portion of the dish. Heat broth in medium sized saucepan and keep warm over low heat. Melt 4 Tbsp of butter in a large saucepan; add onion. Cook over medium heat until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and cook until the mushrooms release their juices, about 5 minutes.

Add the Arborio rice to the onion-butter mixture and mix well, so all the rice grains are coated, about 1 minute. Add the white wine to the rice mixture and continue stirring constantly to ensure that none of the rice sticks, until the wine has been completely absorbed and the rice is soft but not sticky, about 1 minute.

Add a few ladles of broth, just enough to barely cover rice. Cook over medium heat until broth has been absorbed. Continue cooking and stirring rice, adding a little bit of broth at a time, cooking and stirring until it is absorbed, until the rice is tender, but still firm to the bite, about 15 to 20 minutes. I use all 8 cups of the veggie broth.

During the last minutes of cooking, once the rice has absorbed all the liquid and is nice and creamy, stir in the butter, Parmesan and the garlic pulp. Serve immediately. Add salt, pepper and more Parmesan cheese to your liking.

Enjoy!!!! (Oh, when you get a garlic pulp bite during eating, it tastes amazing! Next time, I will probably figure out a way to be able to stir up the garlic a little better, whether it is to mash the garlic or add more when stirring in the risotto, but the garlic really makes it taste great.)

I have to say, I had a Butternut Squash Risotto the other night at a local restaurant and I was highly disappointed. It was overly cheesey (fake cheese-like even), and compared to the amount of melted cheese in it, there was hardly any rice. I told my husband that I can make it SO much better, so Sunday I tried and totally succeeded. It turned out SO good. I am thinking I will make this dish for our family Thanksgiving…

Ingredients include:
(Try to use organic!)
• 6-8 cups  reduced sodium vegetable broth
• 5 Tbsp unsalted butter, divided into 4 Tbsp and 1 Tbsp
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 cups butternut squash, peeled, and finely diced
• 2 cups arborio rice (can substitute medium grained white rice, but arborio is preferred)
• 1 cup dry white wine (such as Sauvignon Blanc)
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 Tbsp chopped chives or garlic chives
• Salt

Heat broth in medium sized saucepan and keep warm over low heat. Melt 4 Tbsp of butter in a large saucepan; add onion and butternut squash. Cook over medium heat until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add rice to onion and squash. Cook 1 to 2 minutes. Add wine. Cook, stirring constantly until wine has been absorbed by the rice or evaporated. Add a few ladles of broth, just enough to barely cover rice. Cook over medium heat until broth has been absorbed. Continue cooking and stirring rice, adding a little bit of broth at a time, cooking and stirring until it is absorbed, until the rice is tender, but still firm to the bite, about 15 to 20 minutes.

During the last minutes of cooking, add remaining tablespoon of butter, 1/3 cup Parmesan, and chives. At this point the rice should have a creamy consistency. Add salt to taste. Serve with remaining grated Parmesan.

This will definitely serve a family plenty, but if it’s the 2 of you, be prepared to eat for lunch and dinner the next 2 days!

Risotto is a traditional Italian rice dish. It is one of the most common ways of cooking rice in Italy. Having had it a couple of times, once at our favorite local relatives, Jay & Kellie, (who love Italian cuisine) and then the other time, my husband and I had from a box bought at the store…I decided to find a recipe and make it from scratch myself.

This particular recipe I had found in my cookbook called One-Dish Vegetarian Meals. It takes a while to make, esp. given the vegetables that need chopped accordingly beforehand, and then as the rice is cooking, you need to be at the stove stirring pretty much constantly. But be patient! The end result is definitely worth it

Oh, and as a side to the Risotto, I decided to healthy boil up some flat-leaf spinach as well, which you can find out how to do that within my Yummy Veggie Wrap blog here.

Risotto Primavera ingredients include:
• 4 1/2 cups Vegetable Stock
• 1 TBS extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
• 1/2 cup grated carrots
• 1 cup shredded zucchini
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1-1/2 cups Arborio rice
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• salt and pepper to taste
• parsley
• 1 TBS fresh lemon juice
(says it serves 4, but it could be more or less depending on how much you eat, obviously)

In a medium-size saucepan, bring the stock to a simmer, reduce heat to low, and keep it at a simmer.

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat until hot. Add the bell pepper, carrots, zucchini and garlic, and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the rice, and stir to coat with oil. Add the wine and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until it has been absorbed.

Add 1/2 cup of the hot stock and cook, stirring constantly, until all the liquid has been absorbed. Adjust the heat as necessary to maintain a simmer. Continue cooking, adding stock 1/2 cup at a time and stirring until it is absorbed, until the rice is tender but still firm and the risotto is thick and creamy. This should take about 25 minutes (and you may not even need all of the stock.) Add salt and pepper, then add the parsley and lemon juice. Adjust the seasoning if necessary. Serve immediately.