Risotto (optional vegetarian)

Ingredients

3 small sweet potatoes, peeled and diced (can be switched out, list of substitutions is below)

1 yellow onion, finely diced

1 cup arborio rice

1 cup white wine

4 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock

Olive oil

2 tbsp butter or vegan butter substitute

½ cup shredded parmesan cheese, or more to taste

Juice from ½ lemon

Directions

- Toss the sweet potatoes with olive oil and place on parchment paper on a cookie sheet, covered in aluminum foil. Roast at 425º until soft, tender, and caramelized (about 30 minutes).

- In a risotto pan (copper) or skillet, sauté onions in olive oil until translucent. Add dry rice, stir to coat in oil and mix for several minutes.

- Add the wine. Slowly simmer while continuously stirring around the outside edges of the pan with a wooden spoon (it is best to use a risotto spoon, which is wooden and has a hole in it).

- In a separate saucepan, heat up the chicken or vegetable stock. Slowly reduce the liquid (in the rice pan) until it becomes thick enough that you can run a spoon through it and the bottom of the pan stays clean in that trace. This should happen very slowly. Don’t rush it.

- Slowly add stock, about ½ cup at a time, until the thickness is the same as it was in the previous step. Do not leave the pan unattended or unstirred at any point during this process.

- It should take approximately 20 minutes to add in all of the liquid.

- The rice is ready when it is slightly al dente. Add the cheese, butter, and lemon juice and stir.

- If using sweet potatoes, add them at this point. Add salt to taste (it makes it taste so much better, trust me), and serve. Enjoy!

Information and Discussion

Recipe alterations:

Instead of sweet potatoes, try one of the following substitutions

- peas (especially english peas!)

- lobster

- chicken

- mushrooms

- crab

- sun-dried tomatoes

- shrimp

or any combination of them!