This easy risotto recipe is creamy, comforting, and virtually impossible to mess up! It's arborio rice simmered with hot broth, onions, garlic, and thyme, then finished with parmesan cheese. It's a simple formula for a delicious Italian side dish, and it's ready in just 40 minutes!
Place the stock in a medium-sized pot over high heat. Bring it to a simmer and then lower the heat so that it stays warm. Add the salt to the pot, 1 teaspoon at a time. You want it to taste just a little saltier than you'd like.
6 cups chicken stock
Place the olive oil and butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until it is soft and just starting to brown, about 5-7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more.
Add the arborio rice to the pot and stir it for 1 minute. Add the wine to the pot and stir until it has been mostly absorbed.
2 cups arborio rice, 1 ½ cups dry white wine
Add a ladle full of the hot broth to the pot and stir well. Continue stirring occasionally until it has been mostly absorbed, about 1-2 minutes. Continue adding the broth, 1 ladle at a time waiting until most of the broth has been absorbed by the rice before you add more. Stir the rice a few times between each addition of broth. The risotto is cooked when the rice is soft but not mushy .. think al dente pasta. This step takes about 20 minutes.
When the risotto is soft remove the pot from the heat and stir in the parmesan cheese and then season to taste with sea salt and fresh ground pepper.
1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, 1-2 teaspoons sea salt
Notes
The quality of the stock you use will make a big difference to the flavor of the risotto. Store-bought chicken stock or vegetable stock will make a risotto that you may find lacking in flavor. In this case, you can add extra parmesan or salt. For the very best risotto, start with chicken bone broth.