Monday, June 15, 2009

Lemon-Parsley Risotto


When people ask me my favorite thing to cook, I always respond with Risotto. I love how versatile it is, and always experiment with new ingredients and flavors.

I make risotto year round, so in the warmer months I like to play with lighter flavors in my risotto. My favorites in the winter are heavier - like shiitake mushrooms, gorgonzola, and black truffles. So for a lighter dish tonight, I decided to use up some fresh parsley and lemons from the weekend.

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 shallots, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 c arborio rice
  • 1/3 c white wine
  • 4 c low sodium chicken broth (vegetable broth for a vegetarian version)
  • 1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tbsp light cream
  • 1/2 c shredded Parmesan cheese
  • Handful chopped fresh parsley
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • Lemon zest

Directions

  • Heat chicken broth
  • Melt butter and oil in a large saute pan over medium heat
  • Add shallots and garlic; saute 3 min
  • Add rice and toss until coated
  • Add wine and stir until absorbed
  • Add 1 ladle of broth and stir until absorbed. Continue to add broth 1 ladle at a time until you have used all of the broth, or until rice is cooked through, but not mushy. This process should take about 18-20 minutes.
  • Turn off the heat and stir in the cream
  • Add the lemon juice, Parmesan cheese, and parsley
  • Plate the risotto and zest the lemon over it; top with parsley

I served the risotto along side chicken marinated and grilled by Jon. He marinated chicken breasts in a mixture of olive oil, fresh garlic, freshly ground black pepper, onion powder, oregano, and red pepper flakes. So delicious, and I love the grill marks -

I have one chicken breast left over and I plan on making chicken salad with it.

This risotto was the perfect spring or summer risotto. The flavors were so bright, light, and fresh.

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4 comments:

  1. Looks like the perfect summer risotto, love the lemon in it!

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  2. I love all of your risotto recipes, this one is perfect for the warmer months!

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  3. Ok here's my question. I was inspired by Chipotle (of all places) to make a cilantro lime risotto this weekend to go with our chicken fajitas. Naturally I stopped here to see if you'd done anything similar. I found the lemon parsley recipe which I thought is pretty close to what I needed. But I wanted to get your opinion, is there anything different you would do for cilantro and lime. Oh and since this is a Mexican inspired dish I wanted to use a different cheese, suggestions?

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  4. Hmm, cilantro lime risotto. That's interesting. I make a cilantro lime broth for pasta, and I make a Mexican risotto (in my risotto tag), but I'm not sure about cilantro lime risotto. I'll let you test it and let me know how it is :) I'd start with garlic and onions, like regular risotto, and would also add coriander (dry). You could season the broth with coriander as you heat it. How about monterey jack for the cheese? Or just queso fresco at the end? Mm, yes, queso fresco crumbled on top! Please let me know how it comes out!

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