Summer Risotto

A quick post:  I made a summer risotto tonight that was outstandingly delicious. Too bad no one was here except me to eat it.  I could have eaten the entire pot but that would have put me over the edge of .....  fat stomach.  Bloatedness. Piggyness. So I didn't. I saved some for tomorrow's breakfast which might be in an hour.

Risotto is simple, basically just some rice and broth.  It's like the chicken of the rice world, you can put anything with it and it will taste lovely.  But I suppose that's true of any rice concoction: rice is a vehicle;  you just need good passengers. 

Arborio rice is what you want for risotto, of course.  It takes a while and looks like a fat silly grain for a while until it undergoes its magical (dare I use that word?) and molecular transformation.  One minute it looks like a bunch of bloated rice grains and 90 seconds later!  Zut Alots!  It is smooth and creamy and rich and done!

I had peas from my garden (yes!) and basil from my garden (again !) and zukes from a friend and an ear of corn and some small tomatoes from Trader Joes.  I cut all the veggies into same size bits, like corn-sized.  Sauteed half an onion (from no one's garden) in butter and olive oil  and then did the same for the rice, added the requisite white wine, then bits of broth, until it was almost done, then all the veggies except for the basil, and stirred for a bit, a little more broth, then the "mantecatura" which is when you beat in the butter and Parmesan and it gets all creamy and smooth and yummy and you have to eat it some of it with a spoon out of the pot but you also must put it in a bowl and put a bit more cheese on top and sit down at a proper table with a chair and swoon at its deliciousness. And eat it all, slowly, so your bowl is empty and then you go back to the pot and eat some more with your spoon until you make yourself stop.

Sigh.  I could have eaten the entire potfull.  It was so, so good, so fresh, so a little "toothsome" as Julia C. would have said and so summery.  So good.  And cheap!  And no meat! (Chicken broth is NOT meat, so don't go down that path.)  Garden peas, who knew?  Basil, well, of course.  Corn, crunchy; tomatoes, sweet; zukes, not even a bit mushy.  Salt, pepper and almost a free meal.

Yum.  That's all I can say for now.

.