Risotto and Chorizo

The food in Argentina was so ridiculously wonderful, I knew I would have to try and recreate some of our favorite meals. Since, I am still recovering from my absolute beef overdose, and have not had a bite or even a thought of a bite of beef, since I've been back, I decided to take one part from a particularly delicious Italian meal and one part of the most deliciously wonderful street food, chorizo. It's like sausage on flavor steroids, charred and delicious. Because of the saffron in the risotto, it feels amazingly Spanish too me, with a little bit of Italian and South American flare. Risotto is a little labor intense to make (you have to stand in the kitchen while you cook it, lots of stirring, etc) but totally worth it.



Saffron Risotto with Chorizo:
1 cup of Arborio rice
1 small onion
1 medium shallot
1 tbsp of olive oil
1/4 cup of white wine that you would drink (I used a Reisling)
1 tbsp of cooking sherry
2-3 cups of chicken stock
1 tsp of Spanish saffron
1 1/2 tbsp of butter
1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
3 or 4 Argentinian style Chorizo links

In a medium pot, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat. Dice the shallots and onion and add to the pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft and translucent, 8-10 minutes. Warm 1/2 cup of chicken stock and stir in saffron, set aside. Add rice and cook for 4 minutes, toasting the rice (you may not notice a difference in the rice). Add wine and sherry and cook until almost evaporated. Add the saffron infused stock and stir. Cook, stirring frequently until the stock is mostly absorbed. Add an additional 1/2 cup of stock and cook, stirring frequently until almost all the liquid is absorbed. Repeat this process until the rice is creamy and tender. Add the butter and cheese to the rice and stir until melted and absorbed. Heat/cook the chorizo in a small pan over medium-high heat, you do not need to but any oil in the pan because of the fat content in the sausage, cook whole or in slices, I chose slices to get a really nice char all over the meat. Serve risotto topped with Chorizo and additional Parmesan, if desired.
(adapted from Martha Stewart)

Happy Eating.