Okay, let me just say…..YUMMY!!!!!!
I was minding my own business, trying to think out of the box for dinner tonight….ya know???? Do you ever hear….”Mom, I’m tired of that…” or “oooo, you know I don’t like that!” Anyways, I was TRYING to come up with something different as a side item to accompany my grilled center cut pork loins. Well, BINGO……I thought about risotto!!!! Okay, so I have only made it a couple of times, and both times I liked it, but I felt it lacked a little something…texture maybe. SOOOO, tonight I decided to give it a try and BOY, am I glad I did!!!! Although, instead of the traditional stove top method, I decided to try the oven method introduced to me by Barefoot Contessa recently. I’m a BELIEVER!!!! Oven method is definitely the way to go:) Here’s what I did…..
1 1/2 cups of arborio rice
5 cups of simmering chicken stock
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/4 cup of white wine
1/2 cup of water
1 bunch of sautéed asparagus (diced into 1″ pieces)
1 cup of sliced portabella mushrooms sautéed
1 tbs. butter
1/4 cup of chopped pecans
1/2 cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese
Simmer 4 cups of chicken stock to a soft boil in a dutch oven. Add the rice, salt, pepper and cover the dutch oven. Place the dutch oven in the oven on 350 for 45 minutes. Meanwhile, sauté the diced asparagus and mushrooms in the butter until tender. (About 5 minutes) Set aside for later. Once the risotto has cooked for 45 minutes in the oven, remove and on a low heat add the remaining 1 cup of chicken stock, wine, water, asparagus, mushrooms, parmesan and pecans and mix well. (Salt and pepper can be added at this time if needed.) Turn the stove off and cover for an additional 5 minutes. Serve with your favorite protein….I chose center cut pork loins as my protein tonight, but I am sure it would be just as wonderful with chicken, salmon, steak, WHATEVER!!!!! Yummy:) It’s a winner!!!
