Italian Risotto

Italian Risotto

I normally make my Italian Grandmother's risotto, but I decided to use Pioneer Womans recipe. With a few tweaks of my own ;) This isn't a healthy dish, actually it is pretty rich. Pair it with a grilled piece of chicken or fish and a nice vegetable.

Ingredients
■ 2 1/2 cups Arborio Rice
■ 3/4 cups of each Parmesan, Romano, and Asiago Cheese
■ 3 cloves Garlic
■ 1/4 whole Large Onion
■ 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
■ 1 Tablespoon Butter
■ 7 cups (to 8 Cups) Chicken Broth
■ 1 cup Heavy Cream
■ 1 Tablespoon Basil, Chopped
■ Salt And Pepper, to taste

I made just cheese risotto for blogging purposes but some options that we love to add are;

Italian Sausage

Feta Cheese

Broccoli

Asparagus

Mushrooms

Pepper Flakes

Chicken

Etc.

Preparation Instructions
Grate 2 cups of cheese. Peel and finely dice 3 to 4 cloves of garlic. Dice 1/4 of a large onion.

Heat a large skillet over medium-low heat and add 1 tablespoon of Olive Oil. Then add 1 tablespoon of butter. Throw in the garlic and onion and sauté for a couple of minutes until the onion is translucent.

Add the Arborio rice and stir to coat the rice thoroughly. Adding 1 cup at a time, add 7-8 ounces of chicken broth, stirring constantly after each addition. As soon as it appears that the rice has absorbed each helping of broth, add in the next helping. Do not stop stirring. This process will take at least 20 minutes. Rice is done when it no longer has a hard bite.

When more of the broth is absorbed pour in 1 to 1 ½ cups of heavy cream. Next add the grated cheese and stir thoroughly. Add in plenty of fresh cracked pepper and about 1 to 2 tablespoons of chopped basil. Add salt to taste.

Enjoy!