Basic Risotto Recipe


for 2 people:

Ingredients:

2-3 cups stock (i prefer the "Better Than Bouillon" brand). Their chicken stock (from Trader Joe's) is normally fine but they have other more special bases like Lobster Base as well, which you could use in a seafood risotto like this one.

a few sage leaves and rosemary twigs (optional)
2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 cup arborio rice (from Trader Joe's)
1 cup cheap white wine for cooking (I always use the Charles Shaw for $ 1.99 for that)


Instructions:

Start by making the stock. 2-3 cups water and about 1 teaspoon of the "Better Than Bouillon" stock. Add sage leaves and rosemary twigs (optional) for some extra flavor. Make sure the bouillon completely dissolves and let it simmer over low temperature.

Put the olive oil into a large saucepan (i like to use a large non-stick skillet), add the onion and sauté over medium-low heat for at least 5 minutes until they're softened and golden. To have more flavor come out of the onions, sauté longer, but without burning them (reduce the heat).

Add the rice and stir until all the grains are coated with the olive oil. Pour the white wine over the rice and stir until it's completely dissolved. Now start adding stock, ladle by ladle. You don't want too much liquid in the rice. You only add more stock, when most of it is dissolved or "swallowed" by the rice. The rice is like a sponge! This process takes about 20 minutes. Keep stirring and tasting the rice to see if it's cooked. You still want it to be slightly firm in the center.

This ends the basic procedure of making a risotto. Many types of risotto dishes will require you to add other ingredients while you're cooking the rice, other recipes will just ask you to add something to the rice at the very end. Click here for an example.