Risotto is Italian comfort food which can be served simply by itself, or add in a choice of vegetables, seafood, or meat.

Ingredients
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 teaspoon butter
1 Small onion or shallots
Arborio Rice 1 cup
1/2 cup wine
2 cups broth (water and 2 buollion cube)
Vegetables your choice (zucchini, peas, mushrooms, carrots)
IF USING Zucchini, slice 1-2 zucchini at 1/4″ or thinner, place into a colander and lightly salt. After 10 minutes, pat zucchini with a paper towel to absorb the moisture from the zucchini, set aside.

Directions

Heat 2 T of olive oil or butter in a well-seasoned, cast iron skillet (or the heaviest, non-stick skillet you have.) Add 1 pat of butter and chopped shallots or onions to the oil and sauté for 2-3 minutes over medium heat.
Add your Arborio rice. For this example, we’ll use 1 cup. This is enough to feed four to six as either a first course (the Italian tradition), or as a main course. Stir the rice well with the onions, butter and oil, because the purpose is to thoroughly “coat” the rice. This helps regulate absorption of the liquid. Add 1/2 cup of dry flavorful white wine.  When the wine is about 3/4’s absorbed, reduce the heat to the lowest setting if you are cooking in an iron skillet, (low medium if in anything else), and ladle in enough stock to cover the smoothed out risotto. When the added liquid level drops about 1/3, re-cover the risotto with more stock. Continue this process for about 20 minutes. At about 10 minutes of stirring rice add your vegetables, (Peas are added only at the last two minutes of cooking.) When the stock absorption rate slows down considerably. The end of the cooking is critical for the final texture of the dish, so when the rice is mostly tender, but with just a hint of texture to it, and the liquid you have added to this point is mostly absorbed, add the Parmesean and 2 T of butter. At this point, stir the risotto to blend in the cheese and remove your finished risotto from the heat.