Risotto is, in my humble opinion, one of the easiest and highest impact dishes a person can master.  For some odd reason people think its tough to make and quite honestly I have no problem with that.  Sometimes you need a dish in your portfolio that is perceived as challenging but can be whipped up with little to no planning.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• A lot of chicken stock (either homemade, a large can, or one of the higher end cartons will do)
• 2 cups arborio rice (make a lot, it reheats pretty well)
• half a medium onion, diced
• Your rice seasoning (in this case a leek, a few sad twigs of asparagus and a few pieces of chopped crispy bacon)
• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil

First things first, take a small to medium sized sauce pan, fill it with the chicken stock, and then heat the chicken stock on medium heat.  You don’t want the stock to boil, just warm up so that it’s hot to the touch.

When the stock is close to being the right temperature take a fairly large saute pan (stick or non stick is your choice completely) and saute the diced onion, leek and asparagus (with the 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil).

Once the onion becomes translucent toss in the rice and using a wooden spoon or spatula gently fold the rice into the sauteed veggies.  Continue to stir the rice for the next minute or two, allowing it to soak up some of the juices.

When the minute or two is up take a spoon or measuring cup and start adding the stock.  Take it slow, you don’t want to add too much, just enough so that it is absorbed in a minute or two.  Make sure to stir the rice for the majority of the time you are cooking it.  I’m not going to tell you that if you step away from your risotto for two minutes to check the score it will be ruined, but you do want to keep the rice moving.  So be prepared to spend thirty to forty five minutes on your feet and stirring risotto.

Some people feel obligated to dump a bunch of parmesan cheese into their risotto.  If you want a richer creamier risotto, by all means, dump in a 1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese.  I won’t judge you.  Just know that the dish you had before the cheese was plenty rich and creamy all on its own.

- Team Denver