Risotto

Recipe from Fanny at Chez Panisse, an illustrated children's cookbook, by Alice Waters

Yield: 3 to 4 servings

4 cups chicken broth
1 small onion
1 tablespoon butter
1 + 1 tablespoon olive oil
1 bay leaf
1 sprig fresh thyme
Salt and pepper
1 cup Arborio rice, or short-grain white rice
Parmesan cheese

Heat the chicken broth until boiling. Taste the broth and add salt if necessary: it should be salty.

Peel and finely chop onion. Put in a heavy-bottomed saucepan with butter and 1 Tablespoon olive oil. Add bay leaf and thyme. Cook gently on medium heat 4-5 minutes, until onions are soft and clear.

Add rice and cook another 5 minutes, stirring often. Then, ladle onto the rice enough hot chicken broth just to cover the rice. You will hear it bubble and hiss at first. Stir the rice, and lower the heat to a very gentle bubbling. Cook, uncovered, for about 10 minutes, until almost all the broth has been absorbed by the rice.

Add the remaining hot broth and continue cooking at a gentle simmer another 10 minutes or so until the rice is tender but just a little chewy at the center. Near the end of the cooking, stir in another tablespoon of olive oil and taste for salt. Add more if needed. One of the special things about risotto is that there should still be some soupy broth in the pot when the rice is done. Serve it right away with some black pepper and freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

You can add many things to a risotto, if you like. Sweet fresh peas and ham, wilted greens, mushrooms, leftover bits of roast chicken or grilled vegetables -- whatever you like. Try adding a pinch of saffron threads to the onions for a golden risotto.

If you wish for a vegetarian risotto, simply substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth.