I went away for awhile. Sometimes you have to do that. But I’m back now, hopefully. We’ll see.

Anyway, enough about stupid life crap I’m not telling you about. Here is one of my favorite risottos I’ve made. Risotto is something you can make to easily impress many a people, because most people don’t realize it’s basically just rice and liquid. And that’s on them. Bonus points too that this one looks like Christmas on a plate, even though I made it 3 months ago.

Christmas is usually my favorite time of year, but the stupid life crap I said I wasn’t talking about has gotten me in a dour mood so I’m kind of Scrooging it lately. And to top it off, the day I decide to snap myself out of it my computer speakers break so I can’t listen to Christmas music. So, you know, there’s that. But whatever right?

Thank god I’m pretty.

I’m kidding. On to this cheery risotto that’s been doing nothing but mocking me for the past hour.

Recipe:

3 green onion (diced, white and green parts)
2 tbsp olive oil
3 beets (160 g for me)
10 oz arborio rice
1/2 cup white wine
4 cup vegetable broth (can use water if you really want)
2 oz goat cheese
juice from 1/2 an orange
1-2 tsp dried dill (1 heaping tbsp fresh dill)

Preheat oven 400°

Drizzle baking sheet with olive oil.

Peel your beets and quarter them. Put on sheet and top with some salt and pepper. If you like you can steam or boil your beets instead. I just prefer the taste of roasted vegetables. Roast for about 30 minutes until softened.

While your beets are roasting get everything else ready. Don’t throw away your beet stems! You can saute those like mustard greens and other dark leafy greens.

Don’t rinse your rice. If you rinse it, you’ll rinse away a lot of the starch that gives the risotto its creaminess.

Chop your green onion. Some people say you should only cook with the white and the top, greener part should be eaten raw as a garnish. I say whatever. Leave some of the green for garnish.

Chop very fine.

Add your beets to your blender with the juiced orange and broth/or water. If you want some chunks of beets in your risotto then just reserve a couple and dice those up adding them with the goat cheese and dill at the end.

Blend until smooth.

Add your beet liquid to a pot and keep it at a low simmer throughout the cooking process. It’s important you add warm liquid to your rice or you’ll lower your rice temperature too much and it won’t cook properly.

Add your oil and onions to your pan and sweat for about 3 minutes.

Add your rice and toast for about 1 minute. Until you can’t touch it comfortably.

Add your wine and cook until it’s almost completely reduced down.

This is what mine looks like right before I start to add the broth.

Add your warm broth in 1/2 cup to 1 cup segments. You want your heat at a very low boil. You don’t need to be frantically stirring the pan, just move the risotto around gently to make sure it’s not sticking or burning.

Cook each addition down until it’s almost completely absorbed.

Then add more and continue the process.

How long the risotto takes is up to you. The quality of your rice, the amount you stir, the amount of heat, and so on. I think I read somewhere a perfect risotto maker takes exactly 19 minutes to cook a risotto. So I guess aim for that, but don’t be discouraged if yours takes 30 or even 40 minutes. The end result is all that matters and a good risotto can be made in 40 minutes.

I think the first risotto I made took around 40 minutes because my heat was too low and it was still better than any risotto I’d gotten in a restaurant.

Near the end of your last addition add your dill.

And don’t feel like you have to use all of your liquid. Your beets may have given you more liquid then mine. It’s always good to have more liquid than you think you need.

When you think your risotto is done, remove from heat and add your cheese.

So how do you know when your risotto is done? It takes practice. Visually it’s hard to tell, especially when you’ve dyed your rice red. The Kitchn uses the smear test which seems to work. I just eat some until it’s the consistency I desire, which I think is sound advice.