Spinach risotto

The standard risotto recipe, with almost half a kilogram of cooked and pureed spinach added.Maybe too much spinach?

Butternut squash risotto

Since the roasted chicken and butternut squash recipe I made recently only called for a quarter of a squash per person, I had half of a butternut squash n my fridge needing to get eaten. My solution, make risotto!

Like any other risotto, I just followed the basic recipe. To make this a butternut squash risotto I cut the half squash into small pieces and added it to the risotto at the same time as the onion. By the time the rice was cooked, the squash was also nice and soft but still in chunks. To get a totally creamy risotto I would have pre cooked the squash in the oven before adding it to the rice.

Mushroom Risotto

This is another really easy meal...but it takes more time and attention. All you need to make a risotto is some onion, rice, stock, white wine, and butter/olive oil. The next thing to remember is 3 parts stock to 1 part rice and 1/2 glass wine for every cup of rice. So, if your using 2 cups of rice, you need 6 cups of stock and 1 glass of wine.

To make a basic risotto, sautee some chopped onion with a bit of butter/olive oil. Once the onions start to go clear add the rice and stir wile it continues cooking til the rice turns opaque. Add your wine and stir (Yes! Keep stirring! This is the effort part of making risotto.) Once the mixture starts to look thick, add a ladle full of stock and repeat the process of stirring and ladling every time the risotto gets thick again. You'll know the risotto is done once it is al dente (soft but still slightly chewy).

For mushroom risotto just add a bunch of sauteed mushrooms about halfway through the ladling process. Once the risotto is al dente chuck in a knob of butter and a hand full or two of parmesan cheese...the real stuff...not the powdered stuff. Then stir AGAIN so that the cheese and butter are combined and the risotto looks creamy.