Easy Risotto

I had some really delicious risotto on a date for Valentine's Day, and then I ran across a recipe for it on the Internet and had to try to make some at home. It's basically just a cheesy rice, so what's not to love? Comfort food at it's finest, only this is fancy because it has just a little white wine in it. I made a few tweaks, so here is my recipe. Enjoy!

Risotto

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups arborio rice
• 5 cups chicken stock, *divided (3 cans (14.5 oz each) worth) and **warmed
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 5 oz. container shredded parmesan cheese
• 3 Tbl butter (cut up if cold)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Using a large insulated pot (I use my 6 qt. enamel cast iron pot with a lid), add your rice and 4 cups (out of 5) of warmed chicken stock. Stir and place in the oven for 45 minutes.
3. Once cooked, add the rest of your stock, wine, cheese, butter, salt and pepper. Stir vigorously for 2-3 minutes to bring out the starches in the rice so it will thicken. Serve.

Marsha's Notes:

It was highly recommended that you use arborio rice for this dish because of it's starch content. I found it easily in my rural grocery store, so it doesn't appear to be too hard to find. If you use other kinds of rice, I am not sure how that changes the results, so FYI.

*I think it is easiest to use an old-fashioned can-opener that has the "pokey" end to make two holes in the top of my cans of broth to pour out a 1-cup portion into a measuring cup to save for the second half of this recipe. Then pour all the rest of the can, plus two more into your pot for warming.

**To make this, I will take my enamel cast iron pot and place it on the stove. With high heat, I pour in my 4 cups of broth and heat until it's steaming. Then I stir in my rice, cover, and pop in the preheated oven.