Ridiculously Amazing Risotto

soooooooo........I sometimes dream of food and then when I awaken I just keep thinking about it until I must stop and make it.  It seems to be happening more and more lately and I credit my ever broadening assortment of bulk foods that resides at my home (thanks to my buying club).

So this weekend was one of the first "feels sort of like summer isn't raining too much" kind of weekends in what seems like FOREVER and I dreamt of a Risotto that tasted like sunshine.  So I thought I would share my recipe to hopefully bring sun to everyone!

(please note that all of this was just made up as I went so feel free to change it, add more of some and less of other, etc, etc)

Summer Risotto )
serves at least 4 good portions


2 cups of Bob's Red Mill Arborio Rice 
6-8 cups of broth (I used chicken because that is all I had..veggie would be good too!)
1/4 cup sweet onion, finely minced (I think leeks would be amazing as well)
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil

1 1/2 cups roasted beets*
some Basil chopped up
6-8 figs chopped up
Che'vre (soft goat cheese)..I used up about 4 ounces of it for 4 people.


* To Roast the beets I covered a pan in tinfoil and then placed beets on that and topped it with more tinfoil.  I shoved the beets in a 400 degree oven until they were done (able to stick a fork in them).  This took probably an hour and a half because I had some huge ass beets.  You can do this before hand to save time.  Some recipes state you can cut up the raw beets and cook them with the rice as you are making it...if you try that let me know if it works!

 After they are roasted the skin should just slide off........either wear gloves or be prepared for pink fingers.   Also I left the beets in pretty large chunks because I am sort of a beet addict...

Once that is done you can start the rice!  Saute the onion in the butter & oil in a heavy pan over medium heat until soft.  Add the rice (and if you are cooking the beets this way add those too) and cook over medium heat until the rice is well coated (2-3 mins).  Now here is where your arm is going to get a good workout...or in my household the Mister is gonna be put to cooking duty!  You slowly add 1/2 cup of the broth at a time until the liquid is completely absorbed before adding more.  This requires constant stirring and when I make risotto it takes about 30-40 minutes and usually around 6 cups of broth...once you get past the 5 cup stage start to taste test it to see if it is done.

You want to keep adding broth until the rice is creamy tender, with a slightly firm center.  You then want to remove it immediately from heat and serve right away!  

Ok so when the rice was done I added the beets, dates, & basil to it until I felt that there was a good blend.  I ended up not liking the basil in the dish but both males (who really eat anything) stated that they liked it in there.  Sooooooo if I was making it again I would use slightly less basil, enough for the occasional bite or none at at all...up to you.  

Then I dished it onto the plates and added the Chev're on top.  (I am also addicted to Chev're and I do realize that there is probably like 9 servings on just this one plate but you can take that info and shove it...my stirring arm was super tired & required more cheese!)

I was hoping that by not cooking the beets in the risotto it would prevent the dish from turning pink but alas that was not the case.  I served this with Bittman's Roasted Carrots with Scallion & Ginger Glaze

and some Ham steaks we received from Taylor-Made Farm which we bbq'ed, because it was fake summer of course.  Kind of an eclectic dinner but really good!  It made it seem like summer was here...

well until the next day when it rained...oy.

Next posting will be *hopefully* about our bees being delivered and our tiffany blue inspired apiary!  

Lacy