Project Description

This risotto is simple enough to be used as a weekday side and yet delicious enough to use for entertaining. The fresh herbs are critical to the taste, don’t skip them!

Ingredients:

• 4 cups chicken broth, covered, simmering on the stove
• 2 large shallots, finely diced
• 2 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 cup Arborio rice
• 3/4 cup dry white wine
• 1 tsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• 1 tsp fresh oregano, finely chopped

A note about the chicken stock used with this recipe...

If using stock cubes or boxed stock be careful with salt content as the rice can get quite salty once all the chicken stock is absorbed.  I recommend combining 2 cups of low sodium chicken stock with 2 cups of normal stock. Ensure the chicken broth is simmering in a pot on an element that is reasonably close to the skillet that the risotto will be cooking in as you will be constantly working across the two.

Difficulty: Easy

Prep Time: 15 min

Cook Time: 30 min

Lead Time: N/A

Freezer Friendly: No

Leftover Alert: N/A

  1. In a  large, high-walled skillet, melt the butter on medium heat and when sizzling add the shallots. Turn the heat down a little and sauté for about 3-4 minutes or until softened but not browned. Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Add the finely chopped herbs and sauté for 30 seconds to get the oils to release.
  2. Add the Arborio rice and stir to coat the rice with the butter, onions and herbs.
  3. Turn the heat up to just above medium and add the wine. This should sizzle and allow you to loosen up any brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Cook until the wine is mostly absorbed.
  4. Give the rice mixture a quick stir and add a scoop of the simmering chicken broth (about a 1/2 – 3/4 cup). Mix in with the rice and let it cook in.  When mostly absorbed, stir quickly and add another scoop of broth and mix well.
  5. Repeat  until 1/2 – 3/4 cup of the broth is remaining.
  6. At this point you can remove the risotto from the heat, cover, and let it rest until you are ready with the rest of your meal. Just before you are ready with your meal, put the risotto back on medium heat, add the remaining (hot) chicken broth and mix. Cook until the broth is mostly absorbed.
  7. The resulting risotto should be a little saucy and not too dry or too runny.  Remove from the heat and serve.

The actual cooking of the risotto is not that long – only 25-30 minutes. It’s the preparation of the shallots, garlic and herbs, along with the heating of the broth that takes a bit of time. To get this dish on the dinner table during the week, complete all the cutting and measuring the night before.

When it’s time to get dinner going the first thing to do is heat up the broth and let this come to a boil while  focused on other aspects of dinner (who has time to watch anything come to a boil).  Once the broth is simmering,  start up the skillet to cook the rest.

We enjoy this side dish with the following with many of the fish dishes:

Refer to each of these recipes for details on how to incorporate Herbed Risotto into the menu.