Fasolia

Stewed Pork Shoulder with Beans and savory tomato broth. Served over rice.

Spinach Risotto

There are few on pot meals more perfect than risotto. It’s brilliant in its simplicity start with a good heavy pot. Build your base with some sweet onion or shallot cooked in butter. Add 1 cup of aborio rice and cook it slightly. Add 1 cup chicken stock. The secret to a great risotto is to keep it moving. Stir it consistently and add another cup of stock and stir until chicken broth cooked in. Add 1 more cup of broth stirring continually until creamy. Making risotto is that simple. The only thing to bear in mind is not to over cook the rice and turn it into mush. It should be creamy and the rice should be slightly al dente. Finish that with 1/2 stick of butter cut into pats. Fold in 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese.
You can be as creative as you like with you risotto. Enjoy.

Creamy Risotto with Roasted Red Pepper and Sweet Italian Sausage

Making Risotto perfectly requires a great deal of finesse and technique, risotto is a very simple dish in the way that it requires very few ingredients to make something fantastic. At the heart of a great risotto is onions nicely cooked in butter or olive oil, aborio rice, broth and Parmesan cheese. Cooked in stages adding the broth a cup at a time stirring constantly to massage out the starches. being careful not to over cook the rice resulting in a pasty mush on the plate. One last pointer; risotto is meant to be cooked aldente or just to the tooth, you should be able to chew the rice and it should have sufficient liquid to lay flat on the plate or in the bowl.  In this recipe I added some sweet Italian sausage, and roasted red pepper puree.

To serve four you will need one onion cooked until just golden brown in olive oil.

cut 2 lbs sausage and saute lightly

puree 3 roasted red peppers in 3 cups chicken broth you should have 4 cups liquid total

add 2 cups rice

add liquid on cup at a time as constantly stirring it and adding more as the rice cooks

Just when its almost done stir in 2 tbs. olive oil or butter and one cup grated Parmesan cheese

add fresh chopped flat leaf parsley and share with loved ones