By Emily
You'll Need:
5 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup white wine (use something good enough to drink)
1 Tbs olive oil
1 small/medium onion, chopped small
1 1/2 cups short grain Italian rice, they suggest Vialone or Carnaroli but I've only used Arborio
3 Tbs butter
2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for garnish
Sea salt (I usually use about 1/2 tsp)
Fresh ground pepper
Additionally you'll need:
-1 cup frozen small peas, at room temp or cooked separately and set aside
A few slices of pancetta (smokey Italian bacon). Cook the pancetta crispy like you would bacon, and crumble on the top of your plate of risotto - you can substitute bacon if you can't find pancetta, however, pancetta is easy to work with and SO tasty so it's worth it to explore if you've never cooked with it before.
To Make:
Bring the stock to a simmer in a saucepan and keep it at a bare simmer so it's hot. In a separate large saucepan, heat the olive oil and cook the onion on medium heat until golden but not brown (maybe 5-7 minutes).
Keep stirring and adding 1/2 cup of stock, and sipping your wine : )
You may need to adjust your heat so the rice doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan, yet keeps at a slow boil.
Test a bite to be sure it's a little firm inside and then you know your are done. (It's overdone if there is no firm interior, which still tastes good, but not the way risotto is meant to be)
Note: you can add pretty much anything to risotto. This is just one variation with Peas & Pancetta, but you can do a mushroom or asparagus risotto, or anything you want to use up in the fridge... We also make the plain parmesan risotto recipe above (with no additions) pretty often to accompany a marinated meat or a more involved dinner that doesn't revolve around the risotto. Also, the fresher and better your ingredients, the better your risotto.