Risotto (cheat & eat)

Another rice dish, but this one is Italian and I cheat making the dish.

Traditional Italian risotto requires being immovable at the stove by standing and stirring
continuously for 30 minutes.
This I find hard to do. So this recipe requires standing and stirring for only 5 minutes.

There are so many things you can do with risotto. It can be a main dish or a side dish
or eaten at any meal. It can be made with almost any ingredient added to the rice:
fish, livers, meat, sausage, vegetables, herbs, nuts, cheese and any flavor of broth.

I found a very good rice grown in the USA.   Botan calrose rice.
It costs more, but what a difference than the rice found in the clear plastic bags.

Risotto from the oven with sausage and peppers


1 Tbsp olive oil
sausage  (cut into cubes)
peppers, red, green, hot or sweet, chopped
onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
Herbs for seasoning
1 cup Botan rice
2 cups liquid, combo of wine, broth or water
tomatoes added after cooking

Heat the oil into a pot that is oven proof (cast-iron oven pot). Turn oven to 350 F.
Saute the garlic, peppers, onion and sausage. Add the rice and fry and stir for about
5 minutes. Add the liquids and the herbs and put pot into the oven covered.  Bake until all
the liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Add a few tomatoes (canned or fresh or tomato paste)
Serve with an Arugula salad.

Others Risotto ideas:

risotto with parmesan cheese and fresh basil
risotto with wild mushrooms
risotto with asparagus
risotto with clams