margherita risotto

bought a bunch of arborio rice just for kicks, since I've now got time to spare. risotto is an odd animal, creamy, rich, and very labor intensive. except it wasn't that hard to make.

I know mushrooms are the normal thing for this, but I dont like mushrooms, so I'm trying other variants. this one's based on margherita pizza.


4 servings of margherita risotto

1 cup arborio rice
3 cups chicken stock
1 cup white wine/ginger ale
2 tblsp olive oil
2 tblsp butter
1 shallot
4 cloves garlic
1/2 serrano pepper
3 tblsp tomato paste
1 cup mozzarella 
parmesan for garnish
rosemary
basil
pepper

• pour chicken stock and white wine into a pot, put on low-medium heat. you'll be keeping it wamr until you use it all
• melt butter and oil in a pan, saute shallots, garlic, and serrano peppers on med-high heat until soft. add spices
• drop heat to medium, pour in rice
• stir constantly for roughly 2 minutes. rice should be coated in oil and butter and getting translucent on edges.
• pour in 1 cup on the broth/wine. 
• add tomato paste.
• stir constantly, add broth in 1/2 cup increments when the rice has absorbed the liquid in the pan. make sure the last batch is fully absorbed before adding more. this takes damn near half an hour, but you'll know when it's done. rice should be tender, no grit. if you need more liquid after the broth is gone, add 1/4 cup increments of water
• once it's done, add your cheese and any extra seasonings for taste.

it's one of those dishes you have to eat when it's done, saving it results in mush. it's rich, and delicious though. totally worth the energy expenditure.