Oh my my, oh hell yes.
In my continuing mission to use up pantry items, I decided to introduce some arborio rice to some feta cheese. I remembered an Onion Feta Risotto I made years ago, from a recipe from a Moosewood Restaurant cookbook, did a little internet scouting, and tweaked based on what I had. I am eating it right now and I have to tell you, people, it is delicious.
If you've never made risotto before, fear not! It doesn't require any special know-how--you just have to have about 20 minutes to stand in front of the stove and attend to your tender bits of rice.
Onion Feta Risotto with Spinach and Lemon
2 T olive oil + 2 T butter, or all olive oil, or all butter, if you like.
2 generous cups diced onion--Vidalia is great if you have it, but any onion will do because they are all sweet.
2-3 minced cloves garlic
1 t basil
1 t oregano
2 cups arborio rice
6-8 cups simmering vegetable broth (low or no salt). You can sub in plain water for some of this liquid, or some white wine.
1/2 to 1 cup crumbled feta cheese
A few handfuls of fresh spinach
Juice and zest of half a lemon
Black pepper
Heat the olive oil/butter in a soup pot over medium-low heat. Add garlic and herbs and saute for a few minutes. Add onions and saute over medium heat for 5-7 minutes, until wilty and translucent. Add rice and stir gently to coat the grains of rice. This is best done with a wooden spoon, so your grains don't break.
Add about a cup of your simmering liquid to the rice and stir gently and occasionally until it's absorbed--this will only take a few minutes. Repeat every few minutes until your rice is firm, tender, and delicious--about 20 minutes. The rice will look very creamy.
Remove from heat and add feta, lemon juice and zest, and spinach, stirring to melt and wilt. Top with black pepper and serve. This would be delicious with lots of green vegetables. Or chicken on the side, if you swing that way (I don't, but I always refer to chicken as "chaka khan." Just FYI.).
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We used this as a basis for a modified dish- feta and spinach risotto with lemon. It was fantastic. The main modification was that we used water instead of broth (I almost always do) and a dash of salt, nixed the basil and oregano because... I don't know, just didn't feel like that additional seasoning. I also only used 1.5 c rice and cut down the water and onion accordingly, but kept everything else the same (I only had half a cup of feta to begin with- the leftover spinach, feta, and lemon juice were how I found this recipe in the first place, thank you, Google!). The instructions for the rice were fantastic. Thanks a lot.