Risotto

I have only two words for the dinner I fixed tonight. Oh……..My………

Still feeling confident about my cooking skills after going to Galileo for a cooking class, I’ve been on a kick to make risotto lately. Something about that rich, creamy texture of risotto was speaking to me, loudly.

On a trip to Trader Joe’s this past weekend, I bought a box of Arborio rice. At least now I had it in the house to have on hand when I finally got around satisfying my craving.

We had about 10 scallops in the freezer (left over from our last trip to Wegman’s…..Fresh dry sea scallops, $9.99/pound…….If you have a Wegman’s near you go get some, they’re so good!) and some frozen tiger shrimp from Traders. They would be lovely with my risotto so I did a search online and found a recipe that I used as my base for tonight’s dinner.

It took longer than I thought to make the risottos but it was so worth it. And might I just brag on myself because this was the very first time I’ve ever made it…..and it turned out fantastic.

Jim helped out by cooking the shrimp and scallops while I finished up dinners main attraction. And this is what it looked like when we plated it.

The risotto was so smooth and creamy and a touch of black truffle oil at the end really made this dish stand out as one of the best things to come out of my kitchen in some time. This recipe will definitely be made again.

I hope to get something on here soon about the food we cooked over the past two weeks as well as my cooking class. Hopefully on Sunday if we’re not totally wiped from a big wedding we’re going to in Philly tomorrow.

Risotto with Parmesan and Truffle Oil

2 tbsp olive oil
3 1/2 ounces butter
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 cup Arborio rice
8 ounces white wine
1½ quarts of vegetable or chicken stock
3 ounces parmesan cheese, grated
Truffle infused oil

Pour the stock into a saucepan, place it over a high heat and bring it to a boil then reduce it to a simmer.

In a large saucepan place the olive oil and half the butter, cook over moderate heatuntil the butter is melted. Add the onion to the pan and sweat until tender and transparent, add the garlic and saute for a minute longer. Add the rice to the pan and stir with a wooden spoon so that the rice is well coated. Stir in the white wine and simmer until absorbed.

Pour a ladleful of the simmering stock over the rice and stir until it has absorbed the stock, repeat this process until all the stock is absorbed and the rice is tender.

Remove the risotto from the heat and stir in the remaining butter, and the parmesan, and a few drops of the truffle oil. Cover and set aside for a few minutes to let everything absorb. Serve.