Beet You To It

Soooo...remember that whole spiel in the last post about how I now contain myself when I get the urge to make risotto? And how it's soooo hard because it showcases great ingredients so beautifully? Well...I had a minor self-control issue earlier in the week when I got the contents of my CSA. I know, I know, I should know better, right? After all, I'm a grown woman, well versed in not only cooking but in the myriad ways one could handle almost any ingredient. But much to my surprise I found that when confronted with two fat, juicy beets and their lovely greens, all I could think to do was make a risotto. Not that I was lacking in ideas by any means (a ravioli and a mixed drink also came to mind), but I didn't expect to be seeing beets for quite some time. I figured by the time late summer/early fall rolled around I'd be due for another big batch of risotto, fitting nicely into my plan of not making risotto too often. I'd had the beet risotto in my mind for at least a year and just couldn't bear the thought of passing up the chance to make it with my lovely CSA beets. After all, this could be a one-time shot, what if I never got beets in my CSA ever again? Right? Right? Who's with me?!?!

In any case, I had a vision for this risotto that did not translate very well on film (or, well, digital camera). Despite looking like minced meat or steak tartare in print, in person the risotto was a sight to behold. I was fortunate enough to get one gorgeous, deep red beet and one Chioggia, or Italian beet (they're also often called candy cane beets because of their red and white striations). Both were beautiful, with the classic red beet lending it's ruby hue not only to the rice but also to the lighter Chioggia beet, that ate it right up and blended into the rice. The whole dish turned pink, but the dark red beets somehow retained their coloring. The beet greens played an important role as well, flecking the dish with deep green pockets of earthy and rich green flavor. The last touch was to add goat cheese in place of the traditional parmesan. Not only did it keep the texture nice and creamy, but the cheese's slight tartness cut through the subtle sweetness of the beets perfectly.

I was fortunate enough to find a few different versions of beet risotto in my cookbooks and online, so I used an amalgam of all those recipes. A few called for roasted beets (I'll save that for a frosty fall night) and a few left them in huge chunks, which just looked strange and unappetizing. Another recipe used water instead of stock, which I don't particularly like. So in the end, I just came up with a bare bones, simple risotto recipe that used more of my cooking instincts and knowledge of risotto than anything else. Besides, with such great, flavorful ingredients, who needs all the extra effort? Here it is, and for the beet lovers out there, this is a must cook. And for the beet newbies, this is a great introduction. Oh, and if your beets don't come with the greens (sacrilege!), you can use any other hearty green you like (swiss chard, mustard greens or kale would be lovely).

Beet and Goat Cheese Risotto with Beet Greens
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
5 cups chicken, vegetable or pork stock, heated
2 large beets, peeled and diced, greens reserved, washed and chopped
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 package (about 5 1/2 oz) soft goat cheese
extra virgin olive oil

1. Heat olive oil, garlic and beets in a large non-stick skillet on medium heat. Cook until garlic is fragrant and beets are slightly softened.

2. Add rice and cook until white and opaque. Add a ladleful of stock and stir rice frequently until stock is absorbed. Repeat until rice is cooked through but still slightly al dente. Stir in goat cheese (saving a few crumbles for garnish) and stir to combine. Add greens and stir until just wilted (add more stock if needed for moisture or heat). Plate and serve topped with a few crumbles of goat cheese. Enjoy!

-Laura

Rice to Riches

I have a problem with risotto. Nothing against, in fact, quite the opposite...I can't get enough. I love cooking with fresh ingredients and altering them as little as possible and risotto is the perfect foil. Some veggies, like greens, can be slowly folded in, gently wilting in the heat of warm broth and lending their flavor to the rice, instead of losing it to blanching water, or being masked by onions and garlic. But it's not just vegetables that make me love this rice dish, it's risotto's ability to absorb any flavor you send its way. As the rice cooks, it gently releases starch granules, giving it the signature creaminess risotto is known for. That creamy liquid then easily takes on the flavor of whatever you choose to put in your risotto, be it fresh vegetables, saffron, herbs, or a purée (like mushroom or butternut squash). That means you get significantly more flavor bang for your buck, and with minimal effort, to boot. Twenty minutes of stirring and a little chopping (or not, if you're using a purée) and you're well on your way to a flavorful and elegant dish. It's no surprise then, that risotto is one of the first things great seasonal restaurants add to their menu when they want to showcase a special ingredient. Be it morels, fiddlehead ferns, ramps or summer squash, there's no better way to spotlight great ingredients and rich flavors than with a risotto.

And so, a flavor junkie like myself needs to learn a little self control in order to avoid exponential waistline growth (all that starch is no good for a slim tummy). Gone are the days when I made risotto once or twice a week, relying on the short 22-minute cooking time and knowing I'd have a chic meal in roughly the time it took to make a tuna fish sandwich. Now I treat risottos as good restaurants do: as a platform for particularly lovely ingredients to shine. It's with that in mind that the latest incarnation of risotto primavera came to mind. With more rainbow swiss chard, turnips and garlic scapes than I knew what to do with thanks to my CSA, I figured, what better way to get the most flavor out of these organic guys, than to toss them all into a risotto and let them sing? And sing they did, in perfect harmony with each other, every ingredient adding its own layer of flavor and resulting in a creamy dish so delicious I didn't even add the parmesan cheese at the end. Each veggie went in at a different stage in the cooking process, with the garlic scapes going first so they'd have enough time to soften and also so they could sauté with the onion and rice and release some subtle garlic flavor. Then came the turnips, which were small and tender, so although they needed a little bit more time to cook, it wasn't as bad as if they'd been large. And last came the swiss chard, which I folded in along with the last ladleful of broth to keep them bright green and with a little bit of bite.

Altogether the dish had an earthy, full flavor, a little sweetness from the turnips, some deep vegetable flavor from the swiss chard, and the slightest hint of garlic flavor from the scapes. Overall it was very impressive, not to mention beautiful. I made sure to utilize those swiss chard stems, which can be tough if left whole, but that easily soften in the broth and add so much beautiful color and flavor when diced. The turnips turned a lovely yellow, having absorbed the color of the broth, and the chard remained bright green with striking yellow and red stripes down the center. I promise you, one taste of this dish and you'll be craving not only risotto, but fresh spring veggies. Here's the final recipe:

Spring Risotto
(serves 2)

1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1 large or 2 small green onions (whites only), chopped
1/2 lb rainbow or green swiss chard, leaves julienned, stems diced
5 small turnips or 3 large, diced
4 garlic scapes, cut into 2 inch batons
4-5 cups chicken or vegetable broth, warmed
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (optional)
extra virgin olive oil salt

1. In a large, non-stick skillet, saute spring onions and swiss chard stems in olive oil until fragrant, about a minute. Add rice and cook until white and opaque.

2. Add a ladleful of broth and turnips. Lower heat to a simmer, and stir until broth is absorbed. Add more broth, stirring frequently until absorbed. Repeat until rice is cooked through and only slightly al dente.

3. Add swiss chard before the last ladleful of broth. Stir until swiss chard is wilted and risotto is creamy. Add parmesan cheese if desired, and serve. Enjoy!

-Laura

Recession Special Recipe: Miso Risotto

Welcome to the first installment of the Recession Special Recipe. As I mentioned in a previous post, I'll be taking pricey and delicious dishes from restaurants and deconstructing them so they're easy, and above all affordable for all of us to make at home. The first recipe is my version of a dish served at David Chang's newest offering, Ko, the twelve seat restaurant said to be revolutionizing the food scene. I recently splurged with a meal there, and have to say that it's one of the best I've ever had. There are no favors at Ko, where reservations can only be made at 10 am via computer, and every seating is booked by 10:01. Luck and determination are the only things that can buy you a seat that's (in my humble opinion) well worth the effort. Twelve lucky folks are sat for a 3 to 4 hour lunch, as are another twelve for dinner. Fortunately, all twelve seats are arranged around the open kitchen so that in between courses (all 17 of them) you're able to sneak a peek at how each of three chefs makes a dish. There are no waiters or busboys and each dish is served via chef, crossing the threshold from kitchen to table. The kitchen is quiet as the meal is made, all swift motions and silent communication among chefs. The atmosphere however, is anything but austere as a combination of classic and modern rock blares over speakers while the hostesses refill water glasses with ninja-like stealth.

Although there were many dishes worthy copying, this one was by far the simplest served that day, packed with flavor and perfectly balanced. It also had the least expensive ingredients and seemed the easiest to replicate. It was a miso risotto topped with crispy guanciale and grilled maitaki mushrooms. The miso was extra creamy, with a smooth sweet-and-salty flavor that contrasted really well with the crunchy texture of the guanciale (an unsmoked bacon-like cut of pork from the jowl). The guanciale's smoky flavor was only enhanced by the pillowy soft, lightly charred grilled mushrooms. I decided that to bring the price point down on the dish, the guanciale should be replaced by thick cut bacon. After all, the point is to provide that smoky pork goodness, a little fat, and lots of crunch. The only real sacrifice of ingredients here is in replacing the maitaki mushrooms with another type. I used regular button mushrooms, but almost any kind will do. An excellent replacement would be oyster mushrooms, which are also somewhat pricey, but are actually a little cheaper this time of year, so if you feel the urge to splurge, that's where I would do it.

Figuring out the recipe (or my closest approximation) was surprisingly easy. After some research I found out that Ming Tsai (one of my favorite East-meets-West chefs) has already done an excellent miso risotto, and his recipe answered some of my main questions about how exactly to go about making the rice (do I stir in the miso paste at the end? Do I use miso broth?), my only real point of confusion. After that I just dry grilled the mushrooms on my grill pan (it's no open flame like in the restaurant, but I tried), and rendered the bacon, which I cut into nice chunky pieces. After I assembled it all, I drizzled the dish with a little bit of rendered pork fat, because I figure, what's better than a little fat during these lean times? Here's the recipe I came up with, I hope it feels like an indulgence, it certainly did for me. 

Miso Risotto

4 cups warm low sodium chicken or vegetable broth

3 Tbsp light miso paste (shiro miso)

1 1/2 cups arborio rice

1 shallot, finely diced

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 cup shiao hsing wine or sherry

2 Tbsp malt vinegar

2 button mushrooms, sliced

4 slices thick-cut bacon, sliced

3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 Tbsp butter

1. Dissolve the miso paste in hot broth and set aside.

2. Heat oil, shallot and garlic in a large non-stick skillet and sweat until softened. Add rice and toast until white and opaque. Add wine and vinegar, cooking until absorbed.

3. Add enough broth/miso mixture to just cover rice (about 2 ladlefuls) and stir until absorbed. Repeat until rice is cooked through and creamy.

4. Meanwhile, heat a grill pan or small non-stick skillet and grill mushrooms until browned and charred. Remove to a plate and set aside. Cook bacon in the same pan until crispy. Remove to a plate and reserve pan drippings. 

5. Plate risotto and top with bacon and mushrooms. Drizzle with 1 teaspoon of the reserved bacon drippings and serve. Enjoy!

-Laura

Rice of a Lifetime

When I was a kid, I loved school. If I was sick, I actually feigned health in an attempt not to miss a day of class or an opportunity to see my friends. But, from time to time, I indulged by going to work with my dad on snow days or any day that school was closed. Like the nerd that I am, I always longed to work, a task that to my young heart and mind felt like the epitome of adult sophistication. After helping my dad choose a suit and tie, I'd dress in my cosmopolitan best for the ride to downtown DC, carefully matching my ensemble to the one I'd painstakingly chosen for him. Soon we were in his office and I was over his shoulder asking what I could do to help. I took whatever task his secretary gave me and accomplished it with gusto, confident that I was the best supply closet re-stocker ever, and made a mental note to list it on my future resume as "experience in commercial merchandising".

But the best part of the day always came around 1 pm, when the office closed and we'd break for lunch (a phrase I found fascinating and was sure I'd use often in my impending adulthood). It was time for lunch, one on one with my dad, a treat that maybe happened 10 times in my life. Knowing that I loved great food even at eight years old, we went to his favorite lunchtime haunt, a small Italian restaurant that specialized in Venetian cuisine. My favorite dish was a slow cooked delight not on the lunch menu, so my father always called ahead so the chef could prepare a double order that morning just for us. The sonatas playing quietly through the speakers and the constant stream of appetizers only added to my fantasy of adult working life, and before I knew it, I had a massive plate of osso buco before me. I always tore excitedly through the meat and marrow, leaving my favorite part for last. The shanks sat on a small bed of creamy, marigold risotto, my entire reason for ordering the dish. My father always asked me why I left it for last, and with a mouth full of food and eyes wide open I replied that it was my dessert.

In the coming years my dad would call ahead during my visits and let the chef know that he could forgo the buttered vegetables and the other side dishes, all I needed was the osso bucco and a double helping of risotto. I spent years trying to recreate that risotto, not quite sure what gave it that vibrant color, cheesy flavor and intense creaminess. I experimented with every type of cheese, broth and brand of arborio rice known to man, but nothing seemed to come within an inch of what I remembered as a tangy and slightly sweet dish. I considered calling the restaurant in the hopes that someone there would remember the dish almost 20 years later, but it had long closed after the area became trendy. It wasn't until recently when I decided to experiment with butternut squash that it hit me. I was too young at the time and with (the eight year old me would be devastated to learn) too unsophisticated a palette to know that it wasn't just cheese risotto, but butternut squash risotto. Granted, squash wasn't the popular ingredient that it is today, in fact it only became en vogue within the last ten years, and certainly wasn't common in the 80's. And so, a twenty year-old culinary mystery has been solved, and with it some of the happiest memories of my childhood have resurfaced. Here's the recipe I worked out, I hope it makes you as happy as it once did me:

Butternut Squash Risotto

1 medium sized butternut squash, peeled and diced
6 cups chicken or vegetable broth (you may not need it all)
3 small or 2 large shallots, finely diced
1 large or 2 small garlic cloves, finely diced
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1/2 cup white wine (go for a dryer one)
3 tsp thyme, finely chopped
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt
pepper

1. Sauté butternut squash in a non-stick skillet with 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil until tender. Puree in a blender until smooth (I had to thin mine out with a little broth to help my blender along). Measure out 1 1/2 cups of puree, reserving the rest for another use (I used it for soup the next day).

2. Heat remaining oil in non-stick skillet and add shallots, cooking until they just start to brown, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and half of the thyme, cooking a minute further. Add rice and cook until opaque, then add white wine and cook until absorbed.

3. Reduce heat to medium-low and add a ladleful of broth. Cook, stirring constantly until all of the broth is absorbed. Repeat until rice is almost cooked though, then add warmed puree. Cook, continuing to stir until rice is done, then add Parmesan cheese and remaining thyme. Taste for salt and pepper. Enjoy!

-Laura

Do The Rice Thing

When I experiment with a new ingredient, but don't really know exactly what to do with it or how to prepare it, I usually reach for the rice jar and make risotto. It's a great way to deal with flavors that are unfamiliar or strong, since cooking slowly over a low flame can help diffuse any overwhelming flavors. I recently decided that I should be using more radicchio, which is just starting to come into season and will be around throughout the entire winter season. It has gorgeous color, crunchy texture and a flavor that changes almost completely when cooked. It's most commonly eaten in salads as a bitter lettuce here in the United States, but is commonly referred to as Italian chicory because of its popularity in Italian cuisine. It's also often grilled, which also mellows its flavor, and served as a side dish or as part of a grilled salad.

It turns out that I was right on track with the risotto and radicchio, as it's a common pairing in Italian cooking. I'd really only grilled it before to make a warm lettuce salad, so I wasn't really sure what to expect from it when it wilted down. I was fortunate enough to recently catch an episode of Lidia's Italy (I love her show) that centered around the area of Treviso, where Italian chicory grows. She made the risotto pictured above with a few heads of real Treviso chicory. As I've mentioned many, many, many times before, risotto is super easy and requires nothing more than 20 minutes or so of light stirring. I'm an impatient cook that's always messing around with whatever's in the pot, so it's the perfect dish for me to make on the fly and release all my nervous energy.

It was actually quite good, possibly one of my new favorite risottos ever. The radicchios bitterness actually disappeared completely, and it took on a languid shape and sweet, almost delicate flavor. Its vibrant amethyst color went dark and tinted the rest of the dish with a slight lavender hue. Lidias recipe calls for leeks in addition to scallions, but I actually found that using shallots and scallions was quite delicious. The shallots take on their own level of sweetness and lose their pungency, while the scallions bring in a more formidable onion flavor in a mild and unobtrusive way. I was surprised to see exactly how much the radicchio cooked down, reminding me a lot of spinach, in that a whole head that worked out to well over 4 cups of shredded radicchio really only yielded enough for 2 portions of risotto. I've adapted Lidia's recipe a bit, but I think the changes worked out well.


Risotto al Radicchio

4 1/2 cups hot chicken (or non-tomato based vegetable) stock or broth
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium shallot, minced
3 to 5 scallions finely sliced
1 cup Arborio Rice
1/3 cup dry white wine
Salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
1 medium head of radicchio, shredded
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat oil and half of the butter over medium-low heat. Add shallot and saute until just starting to brown. Add scallions and rice and cook until rice becomes opaque. Add a pinch of salt and taste rice for seasoning. Add the wine and simmer until evaporated.

2. Add 3/4 of the radicchio and saute 1 minute, then add a ladleful of stock. Simmer, stirring occasionally until stock is almost all absorbed, and repeat until rice is cooked through (I like mine al dente).

3. When the rice is cooked through, add one last ladleful of stock, Parmesan cheese and the remaining butter and radicchio. Stir until radicchio is just wilted, plate and serve topped with scallions. Enjoy!

-Laura

Spring Is In The Air

I recently realized that when it comes to culinary fears, people are scared of more than just ingredients and sad looking veggies. Sometimes it's an entire dish or even the action in the kitchen that scares them away. I, for example, happen to face anything even remotely resembling the act of baking with a great deal of fear and trepidation. The mere sight of a pressure cooker can also lead me into a tearful, hive filled frenzy. Other people fear grilling, undercooked food or choking on a fish bone. It's recently come to my attention that many people fear risotto, even though I have it on very good authority (my own) that it's incredibly easy to make and unlikely to kill you by choking. I'm still not quite sure how risotto developed it's reputation for being difficult, but just like J.Lo and Mariah Carey before it, somewhere along the way risotto came to be known as a high maintenance dish.

While it's still unclear if the aforementioned divas actually require that much attention, risotto most certainly does not. As I've blogged about before, making risotto is not the time consuming, labor intensive treat that restaurants would have us believe. In fact, I like to think of making risotto as kind of like babysitting--you don't have to smother the kid with attention and watch his every move, but from time to time you check in on him and see what he's doing, just to make sure he's doing okay. You're basically just adding chicken stock to a pan of rice every few minutes or so until the rice is cooked through. Old wives tales about lording over the stove and stirring the rice are complete rubbish. After all, do you really think there's a chef in a kitchen at some fancy Italian restaurant standing in front of a skillet for 20 minutes, stirring without stopping? No, of course not. In fact. I recently caught an episode of The Best Recipes In The World with Mark Bittman, where chef Mario Batali said all of this, and let's face it--I'm not arguing with him about Italian technique.

So, faced with a fridge full of springtime goodness, I figured nothing would be more delicious to make than a spring vegetable risotto (risotto primavera, as I call it). I used some delicious and absolutely enormous leeks from the greenmarket instead of onions, lovely fresh asparagus, and some nice sweet French beans. For some color and a bit of tartness I threw in some sun-dried tomatoes. I topped the whole thing off with Parmesan cheese once I took the dish off the flame, and it was wonderful. The dish tasted straight out of the greenmarket, and the rice really absorbed all of the great, fresh vegetable flavors. I can't say enough great things about risotto making and how easy it is, but the best advice I can pass on is what I heard Mario Batali say the other day when asked how to make your homemade risotto taste more like the kind you get in a restaurant: "More butter, more oil."

Risotto Primavera

1 cup arborio rice
1 cup asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 cup French beans or green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 cup leeks, chopped and well rinsed
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
4 cups chicken stock or non tomato based vegetable stock
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
salt
pepper

1. Heat oil in a large skillet. Sauté leeks on medium heat until just starting to brown, then add rice and cook another 2 minutes until rice turns opaque.

2. Add all of the vegetables and sauté another 2 minutes. Add 2 ladles full of stock to skillet and cook until almost all liquid is evaporated. Repeat until rice is cooked through.

3. Remove dish from heat and stir in Parmesan cheese. Plate and serve. Enjoy!

**This would also be great with fresh spring peas!!

-Laura

Wouldn't It Be Rice?

What comes to mind when you think of luxurious food? Seared fois gras? A creamy, rich pasta? A seven course meal at Per Se? I got to thinking about this last week when I ran out of work to look at an apartment (moving is stressful!) and got home completely exhausted and craving something luxe, warm, and filling. All of my steaks were, sadly, dying a slow death in the freezer and there was nothing fresh in my fridge. But none of that really mattered, since for me the ultimate in decadence is anything with the fragrant and luxurious flavor of saffron. It could have something to do with its prevalence in Spanish cuisine, or perhaps that it's the world's most expensive spice, but to me, nothing makes a meal more lavish than saffron does.

Saffron's history is storied and legendary, as it was, of course, one of the many spices that Columbus sought when he ended up accidentally sailing to the New World. Saffron actually comes from a flower, specifically the saffron crocus. It's the flower's stigma, so it's quite small and lightweight--it takes approximately 13,000 of the dried threads to accumulate just one ounce of saffron, hence its hefty price tag. Although it's an expensive item to keep in your pantry, I do think it's worth having, especially since a little goes a long way towards bestowing a dish earthy flavor and a vibrant, canary yellow color. With just a few threads, (less than half a teaspoon, even) you could flavor a paella or risotto dish for eight people, and avoid adding artificial colorants.

So with all of this in mind, I came home and set forth to create something rich and delicious with my saffron. Fortunately, I had a whole container of arborio rice in my pantry that I could use to make one of my favorite dishes: saffron risotto. As I've written before, risotto is made with short grain rice (arborio) and contrary to popular belief, doesn't take much time or effort at all. A plain risotto like this one, with no other ingredients, takes less than 30 minutes to cook, so it's perfect as a last minute after work meal. And as far as effort is concerned, all you have to do is stir every 3 minutes or so to release the rice's natural starch, giving the dish it's signature texture, without adding any cream. Despite the ease of this dish, the result is always a creamy and sumptuous plate that's perfect for lifting your spirits after a long, cold day. Let the diminutive, powerful strands of saffron do half of the work for you the next time you want something opulent with minimal effort. Here's how:

Saffron Risotto (for two)

1 cup arborio rice
4 1/2 cups chicken or non-tomato based vegetable stock
3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp saffron (about 15 strands)
3 Tbsp warm water
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
salt
pepper (white is best)

1. Heat 2 Tbsp butter and all of the olive oil in a medium pan. Add rice and cook until opaque and just starting to yellow. Meanwhile, combine saffron and water in a small bowl (this is called "blooming" the saffron) and set aside.

2. Add a ladle-full of stock, along with the saffron mixture to the pan and stir until almost all of the liquid is absorbed. Repeat until rice is cooked through. Season with salt and pepper.

3. When the rice is cooked through and creamy, stir in the remaining tablespoon butter and the Parmesan. Enjoy!

-Laura

Rice Rice Baby

It seems like this week nothing that I plan on cooking ever happens. Evidently, squid is in short supply in Murray Hill, the raging fires in California make it difficult to buy iceberg lettuce, and my local supermarket no longer carries Yukon gold potatoes. So, what's a cook to do? Adapt, I guess. Luckily, I had a few back-ups when I took to food shopping yesterday afternoon. I'd narrowed down today's dish to three options, and settled on a French style chicken liver dish (vetoed by nearly everyone I mentioned it to) that I make about twice a month. But, once again the fates conspired against me and my supermarket did not have all of the ingredients necessary to make the refreshing salad that tops the dish. This time I was less annoyed. By the time I got home I wasn't really in the mood for liver anyway, so I took advantage of my stocked fridge and made another back-up meal-- risotto.

Risotto seems to have a bad rap, mostly because it has a rep for being complicated and time consuming. Not so! Even the simplest risotto, say, a saffron scented one with no extra add ins takes only 22 minutes, and it's just a matter of stirring. Pop in your favorite Cd, grab a wooden spoon, and before your Cd's done playing, you've got risotto. The one thing to keep in mind is that you use the correct type of rice. Arborio is a short grain rice. The shorter the grain, the starchier it is. And it's that starch in the rice that creates risotto's creamy texture. If you have to add cream or milk, well...you're doing it wrong. So long as you routinely stir the risotto as it cooks, each grain of rice will be encouraged to release it's starch, leaving you with a super creamy final product. I went with a mushroom, green pea and prosciutto risotto and it turned out great! That's not being pompous, trust me, I've seriously massacred many a risotto recipe in the not so distant past. But if I can master it, I'm sure you can, so give it a go. It's a great thing to have in your cooking repertoire for using up leftover ingredients. Here's how this one went:

Mushroom Risotto with Green Peas and Prosciutto

Olive oil
3 cups mushrooms, sliced
1 cup arborio rice
3 cups chicken or vegetable stock, warmed (I just heat it in the microwave)
1/4 cup frozen peas
2 sheets prosciutto, sliced
1 garlic clove
1/2 tsp red pepper flake
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
salt
pepper

1. Sauté mushrooms in olive oil along with garlic, thyme and red pepper flake. Salt and pepper to taste. When mushrooms are a quarter of the way cooked through, add the rice and more salt, and sauté until opaque, about 2 minutes.

2. Add a half a cup of stock (I used chicken) and stir until absorbed. Repeat until risotto is cooked through (about 22 minutes). Right before it's done stir in the green peas, Parmesan, and prosciutto. Enjoy!

-Laura