Cheddar Cheese Risotto

Whenever I have white wine in the fridge that needs using up, I make risotto. I only recently discovered risotto, maybe a year or two ago - and I still don't know if I'm making it correctly. It's always a little crunchy... more so than I think it's supposed to be. But you know what helps novice cooks like me to make a good risotto? Put a large amount of cheese in it. I got this recipe from a library copy of Nigella Express, impressed by how Nigella always knows exactly what I want - Kraft Dinner, all the time.

As usual with Nigella's British measurements, I had to improvise a little. I start with 1 Tbsp each olive oil and butter in a large pan. I had green onions this time, though I usually use regular onions, so I cooked those a for a few minutes. Then I threw in 1 1/2 cups arborio rice and stirred it for about a minute, then I mixed in 1/2 cup white wine and some Dijon mustard.

Now comes the fun, arm-exercising part - continuous stirring! It's not too bad, except for on the hottest August days and I decide I want to stand over a hot pan for 20+ minutes... not smart. Anyway, at the same time as I cook the onions, I put a pot of chicken stock to heat. It seems it's important for the stock to be hot, to better absorb or cook the rice, I'm not sure. Either way, it gets stirred into the rice, ladle by ladle, until it's gone and the rice is mostly cooked. As I said up top, it's always still a little crunchy for me, but my arm's usually too tired to keep stirring, so I give up, and stir in lots of shredded cheddar cheese.

The result is a cheesy bowl of delicious carbs. I could add veggies.. but I usually don't. With risotto, it's pretty important to use good stock, but I don't - just low-sodium store brand for me. Next project - make my own stock for extra deliciousness!