Risotto...
can be an easy gourmet meal for any cook, experienced or not. Its easy, tasty and makes a beautiful presentation. No matter what you add to it, the cook time for the rice is always the same. People are scared to do risotto because of the misconception that you have to continually stir it. While it does take alot of stirring, you can walk away for short periods of time. basic, no frills risotto goes as follows...
3 cups of liquid, stock preferably, to one cup rice. You may or may not use it all. Its never the same for me. Bring your liquid to a simmer. Heat a bit of olive oil in the bottom of a pan over med-med hi. Add rice and stir until fat coats rice and you get a slight nutty smell (the rice should be becoming translucent at this point). Add one ladle full of liquid, (watch out, the first one always steams up quickly) stir. Once the liquid appears to be absorbed, add another ladle full and repeat until rice is fluffy and tender, but not mushy. This should take about 22 minutes.
Between ladles, you can walk away to chop some fresh herbs, or to dice some tomatoes for a side salad. Its very easy to burn, because of the starch content, but once you get the hang of it, its an easy meal and can easily adapted to fit any food preference. Want to do a nice bright basil and sun dried tomato risotto? Easy! Want to do a hearty mushroom risotto? Fabulous!! any foods that need to be cooked through can be sauteed first, then add the rice and follow the method from there. Cheese and herbs should always be added last just before serving.