Rosé Risotto with Cheddar Cheese (Say what now?)

It’s getting chilly outside, and I wanted comfort food. I had arborio rice and no parmesan, but I did have cheddar and a bit of leftover Rosé that needed to be used. Experiment time. If worse came to worse (it was Friday the 13th) there was always PB and J.  N.B. I didn’t need to break out the Skippy.

Ingredients

4 TBSP olive oil
1 medium onion diced
1 C arborio rice
1 C Rosé (or white wine)
2.5 C Stock (I used Bone Broth – just use what you have, this is comfort food not fiddly gourmet stuff)
1 C grated yellow cheddar (aged)
Fresh ground pepper and salt to taste

Method

1. Heat oil in a medium saucepan and saute onions until they are translucent.
2. Add the rice and saute on high for about 2 minutes, stirring, so it doesn’t stick.
3. Add the wine (slowly or it will splatter), and reduce heat to a simmer, stirring occasionally to keep the rice from sticking, until the liquid is absorbed.
4. Meanwhile, heat up your broth.
5. When the wine is just about absorbed, stir in 1 cup of broth, again let it bubble away, occasionally stirring until absorbed (it will, just be patient).
6. Add the second cup of broth, stir occasionally and let it absorb.
7. Grate the cheddar cheese.
8. Add the last 1/2 cup and the cheese. Stir until the cheese melts.
9. Whack a lid on the pot, take it off the heat, and let it stand for 5 minutes.

Stir, plate or put it in a bowl and give it a good grind of fresh pepper and salt.

Makes enough for 2 full meals or 4 side dishes. It would have been nice with a green salad but I was too hungry to wait.

While I was waiting for the liquid to absorb I remembered this arborio rice I used to buy that had a recipe for “no stir” risotto on the box. Sadly, I can’t remember what the brand was, but I do remember it always turned out quite well (not quite as creamy as the “stir until you drop” version but still pretty good. Anyway, I went looking for No Stir Risotto recipes while waiting and found this “Almost No Stir Risotto” recipe from Italian Food Forever, which, incidentally looks like a great website. No, I don’t know Deborah Mele, and no, I don’t get a kickback for saying nice things, I just liked the look of the stuff she was making.