My Secondo Buona Notte As A Little Italian Grandma

So today we are going to tackle an Italian dish that, because of its laborious nature, is widely avoided as a week night meal.  Being busy with school, graduate school applications, boys, and whatever else this city throws our way, my roommate and I have a hard time seeing each other.  Shocking, I know, since we live together in the worlds smallest "two bedroom" apartment.  To mend our withdrawals, we decided on date night last fall, which, just as it sounds, was us getting together once a week, going out on a date, and ending the night with a bottle of wine and a marathon of Restaurant Impossible (yes, our date night was Wednesday).  Following our binge on foodie happy hours last fall, my roommate and I recently reassessed our bank accounts, and discovered that our weekly dates will now be home cooked meals.  

So for part one of our home-cooked-meal-date-night adventure, we decided to bring in the new year with a bang and decided on [DRUM ROLL PLEASE]......

RISOTTO!

Risotto is... what's a word that means more amazing than amazing?... absolutely bomb.  It is delicious, it's kinda nutritious (depending on what kind you make), and it's a pain in the ass to make!  50 minutes of constant stirring, which, for the first 25 doesn't seem terrible.  Oh no, it's not until it triples in weight at minute 38 and the broth is soaked up at quarter speed do you find yourself asking, wait, why are we doing this again.  But no worries!  Grab a glass of that white wine you just had to open anyways, pull up a stool, and get ready to make one of the more delicious Italian dishes ever... yes EVER.  One bite and it'll all be worth it.  Ask my roommate, she'll testify, this is heavenly!

what you need...

1 1/2 cups Arborio Rice

4 cups (1 large carton) Low-Fat Low-Sodium Chicken Broth

1/2 cup white wine, room temperature

1 medium onion, diced

2 - 3 cloves fresh garlic, diced finely

5 oz sliced baby portobello mushrooms 

3 oz baby spinach

1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese

4 oz crumbled feta

3 tbs butter

Thyme

Oregano

Salt and Pepper

what you need to do...

1. In a medium sauce pan, heat chicken stock over medium high heat, bringing to a slow boil.  

2. In a large skillet with deep sides, add butter, garlic, onion. Cook over medium high heat for about three minutes, or until the butter has totally melted and the garlic and onions have become fragrant.  Add the spinach and mushrooms and cook for an additional 2 minutes.

3. Add the uncooked arborio rice and stir until all grains of rice have been incorporated with the veggies and are covered by the butter.  Cook for about one minute, stirring constantly, and then slowly pour in the white wine.  [It is important that the wine be at room temperature so that it does not hit the heat and immediately cook out].

4. Continue to cook over medium high heat, stirring constantly, until all of the wine has cooked into the rice.    Add salt, pepper, thyme and oregano and stir.  Begin adding the broth to the skillet using a ladle.  In this step it is important that you add one ladle at a time, stir, and wait to add another spoonful until the previous spoonful has been completely absorbed by the rice.  This is the tedious part, and yes, this is going to take about 40 minutes to move through that entire pot of chicken stock.  Repeat this step until absolutely all of the chicken stock has been added to the skillet and is completely absorbed by the rice.  Towards the end, it will begin to become a bit creamier and much thicker than what you started with.  If you are unsure if the rice is cooked enough, you can taste the rice.  It should be tender but still a bit tough, somewhat like al dente pasta.  

5. Remove the risotto from the heat and add the Parmesan cheese and feta cheese, stirring well to incorporate.  Because the risotto is so hot, the cheeses will melt into the mixture.  Be sure to give it a good stir for about 3 minutes so that the cheese is well blended throughout the risotto.  Top with oregano and serve with a glass of white wine and you're good to go!