I learned this recipe from a cooking class I did with my mom and sisters and I fell in love with risotto.
Adapted from The Learning Kitchen
Ingredients
3-4 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
0.5 cup Arborio rice
0.5 cup white wine
0.5 parmesan cheese
1.0 garlic clove (minced)
3.0 tbsp butter
2.0 sprigs chopped parsley
2.0 sprigs thyme
salt and pepper to taste
Equipment
2 medium pots
1 wooden spoon to stir with
Steps
In one pot, add the broth and set to med-low heat.
In the other pot, add 2 tbsp butter and melt on medium heat.
Once melted, add garlic and rice and stir so all those rice grains get coated with the butter.
Once the edges of the rice start looking translucent, reduce the heat to low and add the wine. For me, this has taken up to 5 minutes and it's also happened almost instantly...so don't time it. Just look for the translucent edges.
Stir occasionally. You want the risotto to be slightly bubbling throughout this whole process.
Once the wine is absorbed and the risotto is thickening, add enough stock to barely cover the rice.
Again, stir occasionally until the broth is absorbed and the risotto is thickened.
Repeat the last two steps until you've added broth a total of three times. Be patient. You want to add more broth once you run your spoon across the bottom of the pot and the risotto SLOWLY comes back together. It should be creamy, not liquid.
Once the third broth helping is thickened, remove it from the heat.
Add parsley, thyme, salt, and pepper to taste.
Add the parmesan and the remaining tablespoon of butter and stir until the butter is melted and incorporated.
Optionals
Add stuff. You can use this as a base and add anything! Sauteed mushrooms are great, peppered bacon is good...go wild!