Food: Easy Gourmet
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Tonight was a great night at the dinner table. Some nice wine, great conversation, and the food was exquisite. My wife took her first bite and proclaimed, “this is like something you could order in a swanky restaurant.” I agreed. This recipe takes a little longer than normal, about an hour. But it was Saturday and we had time. Its not a hard dish but it does require your attention.
Gourmet Goulash:
Serves 4. Prep time 15 min. Total time 1 hr
1 can Tomatoes (28 ounces)
1 Tbl sp olive oil
3/4 lb sweet or hot Italian sausage, casings removed
1 small onion, finely chopped
coarse salt, ground pepper
1 cup Arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 bunch flat-leaf spinach, washed well, tough stems removed. Chopped. (about 7 cups)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tbl sp butter
Ok, this is what you do. 5 steps to great dinning. Enjoy.
1st) In a small saucepan combine tomatoes and their juice with 3 cups of water. Bring to a simmer, keep warm over low heat.
2nd) In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium. Add sausage and onion; season with salt and pepper. Cook, breaking up sausage until its opaque in color and onion has softened, 3 to 5 min.
3rd) Add rice; cook stirring until well coated, 1 to 2 min. Add wine; cook, stirring until well absorbed, about 1 min.
4th) Add about 2 cups hot tomato mixture to rice, simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until absorbed. Make sure the liquid gets absorbed, 4 to 5 minutes. Continue adding tomato mixture, 1 cup at a time, wait until the first cup is absorbed before adding the next cup, stirring occasionally, until rice is creamy and just tender. This adding tomatoes and stirring will take about 30 minutes, this is the part that requires your attention.
5th) Remove pan from heat. Stir in spinach, Parm, and butter. Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately (risotto thickens as it cools), sprinkle with additional Parm if desired.
And that’s it. Many people think that risotto is to complicated so they never attempt it. Trust me friends it’s not, it just takes time. You really need to be standing over the pan stirring, and stirring and stirring. During the stirring process make sure you have some good conversation or some great music; tonight I rocked out with “A Ghost is Born” by Wilco. What a night.
We based this dish on a recipe from, “Every Day Food.” Expeirment with the recipies, don’t be afraid to add you own flair to the dishes. Whats the worst that can happen? Pizza.
Doug-
