The Quintessential Pesto with Risotto
Many people are intimidated by risotto, I know I used to be, because it requires you to stir constantly while you are making the dish. It is fairly easy once you get going, but you need to make sure if you are making any other dishes to make those first! Then give all of your attention to the risotto.
This recipe starts with you making the pesto first. And thankfully, it is your basic pesto. Food process garlic and salt first. Then add your basil, pine nuts and cheeses. Here they recommend Fiore Shado sheep cheese and Parmigiano-reggiano. I couldn't find the sheep cheese even at my fancy grocer, so I just used Parmigiano. Then add your olive oil, making a rough paste. Set this aside.
Now one trick to risotto is make it in the heaviest pan you have so that it won't be as likely to burn. I also keep the heat a little lower than recommended.
Start by heating your oil or butter. Saute the chopped onions for 3 minutes. Then add the garlic and the Arborio rice. Cook for another 3 minutes, stirring frequently. And now the risotto cooking begins. Add some white wine and cook that down. Then you add your chicken broth 1 cup at a time and wait until it cooks down before adding the next cup of broth. If you start with 1 heaping cup of rice, then you will need up to 4 cups of broth.
Do not stop stirring!
Even if it seems fine and you walk away for as little as 30 seconds, you can come back to a stuck and burning pan. There is no trick or fancy cooking here, it is just simple stirring. But it goes fairly quickly and is done in about 20 minutes.
Take the risotto off the heat when it is still a little soupy. It will continue to cook as you let it sit for 3 minutes. Then fold in the pesto and some reserved pine nuts. I added thin sliced basil and shaved Parmigiano on top as a garnish. This was yummy and made a minimal amount of dishes dirty. Always a good thing.
33 recipes down in How to Eat Supper.
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