Risotto!

This week we're making Risotto! It may sound fancy, but it's actually quite simple and super delicious! Honestly, quite a bit like macaroni and cheese with a few more spices mixed in, so give it a shot! You'll be glad you did!

Alright, so first off, this recipe works best if you have two separate saucepans, one for the broth and one for the shallots and rice mixture. As far as ingredients go:
- 3 Cups of Chicken Broth (I recommend the low sodium variety)
- 1 shallot
- 3/4th cup White Rice
- 3/4 cup of dry white wine (we used Charles Shaw Pinot Grigio, but if you prefer another brand, use it)
- 2 tablespoons of butter
- 1/4th cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp of garlic powder and/or 21 seasoning salute (Trader Joe's) or really any seasoning you want!

Once you have those, start boiling the chicken broth in the first saucepan, then start chopping up the shallot, as thinly as possible. Keep an eye on the broth, and be sure to lower the heat after the broth starts boiling so it can simmer as you prepare the rest of the mix.

Then, with chopped shallots in hand/on cutting board, bring the second saucepan to a medium heat, melt the first tablespoon of butter inside it, and mix in the chopped shallots. After a minute or two, mix in the rice as well, stirring for another 2-3 minutes, allowing the shallots and rice to start absorbing the butter.

Next up, add the white wine to the rice and shallot mixture, and stir until most of the liquid has been absorbed/evaporated, usually just another 2-3 minutes. After this occurs, add 1/2 cup of the simmering chicken broth to the mixture, and stir it until the liquid has been mostly absorbed into the rice and shallots. Repeat this process until all of the broth has been added and absorbed.

Finally, remove the mixture from heat, then add the remaining butter, salt, cheese, and spices, and stir until everything's evenly mixed in!

And you're done! Serve it up and enjoy!

And if you want a simpler, quicker approach! Well... Normally I'd give you a simpler, quicker, more store-bought and microwaveable approach, but in this case, any of the boxed risotto mixes I've found still needed cheese, olive oil, butter, and realistically almost as many ingredients as the from-scratch recipe needed.

So they're out there! but for now I'm just gonna highly recommend that you guys make this one from scratch! It doesn't take too long, it's really hard to screw up, and it's totally delicious and worth it! As always, there are plenty of variations you can put on this recipe, with different spices, adding extra ingredients like asparagus or baked prosciutto, so when you make this yourself, shoot me and email at danhenriksen@fluffy-muffin.com and let me know what additions and/or changes worked for you! And of course keep the feedback coming about what you're liking about the writing, recipes, and what you want to see in the future! Thanks so much!