Green Risotto

My mom tasted this dish before I did, and her immediate response was: "This tastes like it's from a restaurant!" After my first bite I agreed. The rice was creamy and flavorful; even I couldn't believe there was no chicken stock in it (and I was the one who made it!)

The recipe comes from a comprehensive Italian cookbook called The Silver Spoon. I haven't explored too many recipes in this book, but the few I've tried have always been winners. I felt like making something new for dinner, and took a quick look through the vegetable bin in our fridge. I pulled out red bell peppers, mushrooms, leeks, spinach, zucchini, carrots, & celery with plans for making a risotto primavera. After a quick look through the Silver Spoon, and it's dozens of risotto options, I settled on this recipe for green risotto. It used a handful of the vegetables I had selected, and allowed for a few easy substitutions with other ingredients.

This recipe serves 4 (large servings, in my opinion).

Ingredients:

3 T butter

3 T olive oil

2 c arborio (or other risotto) rice

~4 c vegetable stock (or chicken stock)

boiled water

1 2/3 c fresh spinach, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1 stalk celery with leaves, chopped

1 small leek, thinly sliced (only the white part) OR 1 small onion, chopped

*1 clove garlic, minced

salt, to taste

grated parmesan cheese

**optional: parmesan rind, for flavor

*looking back at the recipe, I realize I forgot to add this. It was fine without garlic, and I probably won't add it next time.

About halfway done cooking

First in a medium pot, heat 2 T butter & the olive oil on M heat. Add the spinach, carrot, celery, leek/onion and cook 5 mins, stirring when necessary.

Reduce heat to L, season with salt, and cover for an additional 10 mins. While this is cooking, bring the stock to a boil in a small pot. Boil extra water on the side.

Throw the rice in & a few cups of the heated stock. Add the parmesan rind, stir, and simmer 18-20 minutes until the rice is done. Keep adding stock & stirring so the rice does not stick & it thickens as it cooks.

When the rice is done, take out the parmesan rind, add in the last 1 T of butter, and grate about 1/3 c fresh parmesan cheese into the pot. Stir until everything is mixed together. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese when you serve & enjoy!