Basic Cheese Risotto

I've had a stinky cheese (a petit pont l'eveque), mostly eaten down to the rind, kicking around my refrigerator for a few weeks and wanted to get rid of it. Tonight, I used it in a risotto and really liked the results.

Ingredients:

* 2 cups arborio rice (I actually used the cheaper Calrose rice, tonight, which yielded pretty decent results... only slightly mushier than it ought to be)
* 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
* 2-3 tablespoons unsalted butter
* medium onion, minced
* a few cloves of garlic, minced
* 1/2 a glass of dry white wine, warmed
* about 1 quart broth (I used Imagine chicken broth)
* stinky leftover cheese, including rinds, chopped, in an amount to taste (we had about 2-3 ounces)

Sautee the minced onion in olive oil over low heat until golden. Add garlic and sautee until very light brown. Add rice and cook for about 3-4 minutes until rice is translucent, stirring constantly to prevent rice from sticking.

Stir in wine and continue cooking / stirring until it has evaporated.

Add a cup of broth. Cook, stirring frequently, until absorbed.

Add more broth, about 1 cup at a time (actually 1/2 a cup if you're patient), repeat.

When the rice is mostly cooked, stir in the chopped cheese until it is fully incorporated. Season with salt and pepper to taste. (I cheated and added some garlic and onion powders at this point, because I wanted a more concentrated flavor.)

Cook rice, adding more broth as necessary, until rice is al dente.

Remove from heat, stir in butter.


We ate this with oven roasted broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus and tomatoes for dinner, tonight. It's a great break from meat and pretty economical to make.