Roasted Garlic Risotto

Simple Luxury

A few days ago, I wrote a post about roasted garlic and the many different ways you can use it.  Today, I will prove it and use roasted garlic in a recipe! 

When I think of risotto, I think that it belongs with a very fancy meal that takes all day to make.  But the truth is, risotto is very easy to make.  It is a bit time intensive, but as long as you are able to stir, you can make risotto :).   The secret is continuously stirring the risotto as you add the liquid.  It helps the starch come out of the rice, making it very, very creamy with no fattening heavy cream at all!  This particular recipe uses water as the liquid, but traditional risottos use a beef or chicken broth.  Since water is essentially flavoring the rice from the inside, I would use filtered water.  I have also made this recipe with ¾ water and ¼ chicken stock, and it did not overwhelm the garlic.

If you start roasting the garlic first, and then prepare the risotto while the garlic is roasting, it only takes about 40 minutes to make the entire recipe since the garlic is stirred in at the last minute.  I don’t even puree the garlic – I just mash it up with a fork and it saves a few minutes (and a few dirty dishes). This is a great recipe because once you learn the technique you can make any kind of risotto you’d like!

Roasted Garlic Risotto (Adapted from the Bon Appetit Cookbook)

4-6 servings

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Ingredients

1-2 heads of garlic, roasted & pureed (depending on how much you like roasted garlic!)

4 cups of water (do not use stock, it will overwhelm the taste of the garlic)

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

1 cup arborio rice

1/2 cup dry white wine

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

salt & freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Bring 4 cups water to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Reduce heat to low, cover, and keep hot.

2. Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and saute until tender, about 3 minutes.

3. Add rice and stir until golden, about 3 minutes (toasting the rice helps prevent it from becoming soggy).

4. Add wine and stir until absorbed, about 2 minutes. Ladle in 1/2 cup hot water (or as much as your ladle will hold). Reduce heat to simmer and stir until liquid is absorbed. Continue adding hot water one ladle at a time, simmering until liquid is absorbed before each addition and stirring frequently, until rice is just tender and mixture is very thick, about 25 minutes. *Tip - the more you stir, the creamier your risotto will be.

5. Add in cheese, parsley, and garlic puree into risotto. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Remember that the Parmesan cheese is salty, so be sure to taste before you add salt. Top with additional Parmesan cheese and parsley and dig in!

I hope you enjoy this dish as much as Mike and I did :). Bon appetit!