This typical Milan recipe is a perfect base for risotto dishes.

5 minutes preparation + 20 minutes cooking
1 serve of vegies in this recipe

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 ½ cups Arborio rice
½  cup white wine (optional)
6 cups chicken stock, hot
60g grated Parmesan cheese

In a large heavy saucepan heat the oil and cook onion and garlic until softened but not coloured. Add rice and stir until it ‘crackles’, approximately 1-2 minutes. Add the wine and about half a cup of stock at a time, stirring constantly and adding more when the liquid has absorbed. Continue until rice is tender and all stock has been absorbed. It should be a creamy consistency, neither dry nor ‘soupy’. Remove from heat and stir in cheese.

Serves 4.

Variation
Green Risotto
Cook risotto as above. Add 6 spears of cooked asparagus, 6 sliced snow peas, and 1 chopped spring onion at the end of cooking. Allow to stand, covered, to heat through.

Mushroom risotto
Slice 2 cups fresh mushrooms and cook with onion and garlic. Continue to cook as above.

Vegie mix risotto
Add 150g sliced mushrooms, 1 medium zucchini, sliced, 1 stick celery, sliced, 1 capsicum, seeded & sliced to cook with onion and garlic. Continue to cook as above. Add a 225g can sweet corn kernels, drained, at the end of cooking. Allow to stand, covered, to heat through.

Chicken and corn risotto
Cook risotto as above. Add cooked sliced chicken and a 440g can sweet corn kernels, drained, at the end of cooking. Allow to stand, covered, to heat through.