Cheddar Cheese Risotto

I absolutely love risotto, so when I heard an interview with Nigella Lawson on NPR describing her recipe for cheddar cheese risotto, I was very intrigued. If you aren’t familiar with risotto, it is an Italian dish that usually includes vegetables, meat (or not if you make it as a side), and delicious Italian cheese. To put cheddar in a risotto almost seems wrong, and yet I was compelled to try it. As far as risottos go, I’d give it three out of five stars, but my daughter loved it (and did all the stirring for me). That’s when it occurred to me that this dish is practically macaroni and cheese. What a great crossover meal! It is familiar, but different and the next time that I want to make a more authentic risotto, perhaps she will be more willing to try it even if it contains scary things like broccoli.

Cheddar Cheese Risotto
by Nigella Lawson
Ingredients
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 baby leeks or 2 fat scallions, finely sliced
• 1-1/2cups risotto rice
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 4 cups hot vegetable stock
• 1 cup chopped Cheddar cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped chives
Instructions
1. Melt the butter and oil in a medium-sized pan and cook the sliced baby leeks or scallions until softened.
2. Add the risotto rice and keep stirring for a minute or so, then turn up the heat and add the wine and mustard, stirring until the wine is absorbed.
3. Start ladling in the hot stock, letting each ladleful become absorbed as you stir before adding the next one.
4. Stir and ladle until the rice is al dente, about 18 minutes, then add the cheese, stirring it into the rice until it melts.
5. Take the pan straight off the heat, still stirring as you do, and then spoon into warmed dishes, sprinkling with some of the chopped chives.
Serves 2 as a main course or 4 as a starter


To checkout the interview for yourself, visit: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=114320079