Risotto

Don't worry, you didn't accidentally come across Rachael Ray's cooking site, or even Martin Yan's. No, this is just a strange new approach to my ordinary, traditionally non-cooking, blog.

A 'risotto' is an Italian rice dish that I never actually had while in Italy, but that Annie ate quite often. We've been working on figuring out how to cook a good risotto for awhile, and we're finally ready to reveal to the world how to do it. Well, at least to the 6 people who read this blog.

What you need:

• Rice, about 3 cups (or more if you want more; I'm not going to stop you)
• 1 Tbsp butter (or Olive Oil, but butter makes it taste better)
• 1/2 an onion
• Some meat (for this one, we used about 3 chicken breasts, but you can use anything: hamburger, italian sausage, dry salami, pork, bacon (if you're really adventurous), whatever).
• A vegetable (we didn't use one, but only because we hadn't been to the store in a long time. Red or yellow peppers are really good, or zucchini, or eggplant, or do some experimenting).
• Salt, Pepper, Parsely, Basil, Oregano, Boullion cubes (any flavor, but vegetable flavor is best), and some Crushed Red Pepper. (I don't know how much of each; I'll try to explain as we go along.)
• Pecorino Romano cheese (Parmesan is okay, too). It's best if it's freshly grated. You can use the green can stuff, but don't ever tell me you did.

Start with a big saucepan. Probably the biggest you have. Put in the butter (or olive oil) and turn on the heat to high-ish. Dice the onion up nice and small and put it in the butter (or peel the garlic and drop it in whole, or squish it, or whatever you prefer to do with garlic).

Cook the onion for about five minutes, stirring constantly (don't let it burn!), until they get translucent. If using whole garlic, brown it a bit on each side, then pull it out and throw it away.

Dice your vegatable and add it to the oil (maybe you should dice it before you start cooking). At this point you want to add salt and pepper. Try to shake some salt on every piece of vegetable (really, you'll need more salt than you think you do). It's also a good time to add the boullion cubes (2 of them should be enough).

When the vegatable bits are getting soft, dice the meat and add it (again, you may want to cut it up before turning on the stove).

Add a bit more salt, again trying to shake some onto each piece of meat. Also add the crushed red pepper (sprinkle some on; you're not trying to make it spicy, just keep it from being bland).

Just before the meat is fully cooked (about 80% of the way done) add the leafy spices; maybe a tablespoon or so of the parsely, a little bit less of the basil, and a half TEAspoon of oregano is probably enough.

Finish cooking the meat (you really should be stirring it constantly to keep it from burning). If you're the kind of cook that enjoys using a little wine, now is the time. Pour in about a quarter cup, turn the heat up, and cook the heck (alcohol) out of it.

When the alcohol is cooked out, add a can of tomato sauce (I forgot to add it to the list. Sorry). Sure, you can use diced tomatoes like we did ('cause our pantry was bare), but tomato sauce makes it taste better, and cuts down on the cooking time.

It's looking pretty good, isn't it? Let it cook for a little while. This is a good time to just put the lid on it and let it simmer while you wash the cutting boards and set the table and all that.

Let's see, what's left? Oh yeah, add some of that pecorino romano cheese (or parmesan). You can't add too much (unless you're using the green can stuff). You also could have added some before you added the tomatoes, or just add double now. Or triple. Really, you can't add too much.

To finish up the Risotto, add a few cups of hot water (this is where you can use your own judgment. The water is there to cook the rice; add enough water to cook the amount of rice you want. Minute rice is a 1:1 ratio. This recipe could probably support up to six cups of rice, but I'd recommend 3-4).

One consideration: add a bit less water than you think you'll need. You can always add more water if it's getting too dry, but you can't add more rice if it's too runny. I've been known to keep water at a near boil in a separate pan, just in case.

If you time it right, the water will all cook out of the rice about the time the rice is cooked. Serve it with more pecorino romano on top (really, pile it on. It can't have too much!) Three cups of rice should serve 4 adults, or two adults and however many kids you have.

We've enjoyed this recipe (or, if you prefer, this loose and liberal suggestion list for making stuff). It's pretty quick (about 40 minutes), only dirties one pan (which washes out easily), and gives us an excuse to eat a lot of pecorino romano cheese.

There are unlimited variations, but the pattern stays the same: start with oil or butter, add onion or garlic, add a vegatable, season with the robust spices, add the meat, season with the leafy spices, add tomatoes, simmer, add water and rice, serve and enjoy.

Let me know if you try it, but don't tell me if you use the green can parmesan; I don't want to know. Buon appetito.