Wow, I've posted a lot of sweet recipes lately. It's not that I haven't been cooking, but I guess I haven't tried a whole lot of new recipes. As always, risotto remains one of our favorite dishes. It's perfect for a weeknight dinner, as it takes about half an hour in total. It's great on its own, or as a side dish. This particular one is nice served along a spicy sausage (like chorizo or salsiccia), or grilled chicken.
Fennel Risotto with Feta Cheese
1 yellow onion
1 small-ish fennel bulb
200 ml arborio rice
50 ml dry sherry
1 litre good stock (any kind of vegetable would work well)
100 ml finely grated parmesan
75 g feta cheese
butter, olive oil
Finely chop onion and fennel. Heat a little butter and olive oil in a heavy pot, and fry the onion and fennel on medium heat for a few minutes. Add the rice, and turn up the heat to let it color until golden. Stir all the time - it burns easily. When the rice is golden, add the sherry and let it reduce for a minute.
Add the stock, ladle by ladle. When the risotto looks dry, add more. It'll take about 20 minutes in total - keep tasting to make sure the rice is just right. You might not need all the stock, or you might run out - just add hot water in that case.
When the rice is done - slightly chewy but not crunchy, and definitely not mushy - stir in the parmesan. Taste to see if you need to season it, and serve with crumbled feta cheese.
