Baked Rosotto Torte

I am sharing this recipe with you today for three reasons:

1. It is DELICIOUS!
2.It is time consuming but will impress your family if you make it.
3. I was scared of this recipe because of two words--"risotto" and "torte". Why? Because sometimes words scare me. Why? Because I am a dork.

But, I did it. I made this meal and I had to share it with you because it is soooooo good.

First, I will tell you what those scary words mean. Ready?

Risotto is a traditional Italian rice dish. So, it's rice. Italian rice. NOT SCARY.

Torte means cake. NOT SCARY.

Okay, so now that we have omitted our fear of cooking words, let's start!!!

Here are the ingredients:
3 C. chicken broth; olive oil; 1 med. yellow onion, finely chopped; 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped; 1 1/4 C. Arborio rice; 1/2 C. dry white wine; 1/4 tsp. Kosher salt; 1/4 tsp. black pepper; 1 1/4 C. grated parmesan cheese; 3 Tbsp. chopped parsley. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.


Take your chicken broth...
and warm it in a small saucepan over low heat.
While the broth is warming, heat 3 Tbsp. of oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
Now, take that onion and chop it up.
Throw it into the warm skillet. Cook it until it's tender (about 5 minutes or so).
Take your garlic cloves...
and give them a nice chop. Throw them into the skillet with the onions. Cook for an additional 2 minutes.
Now, measure out the Arborio rice. (You will find this rice in the pasta aisle. WARNING: It is a tad expensive, but makes a lot. I love it oh-so-much.)
Add the rice to the onions and garlic.
Stir constantly until the rice turns translucent, which'll be about one minute.
Add the wine to the rice mixture and keep stirring!! Stir until the wine is absorbed. (this is not really a recipe to be making while you have 1o other things to do. No multi-tasking with Risotto Torte!)
Once the wine has been absorbed, start measuring out 1/2 C. of the chicken broth at a time...
and adding it to the rice. You will slowly stir until the 1/2 C. of broth is absorbed and then you will add another 1/2 C. This is going to take you about 20-25 minutes. So, please, don't plan on doing laundry or organizing your junk drawer or vacuuming your house. The rice needs your attention.
Once all of the chicken broth is absorbed, it will look full and fluffy like this.
Now, add in your salt,
pepper,
and 1/2 C. of parmesan cheese. Then, remove the rice from the heat. Let it cool for about 5 minutes.
While it's cooling, oil a 9-inch cake or pie pan. Yes, I realize this is not a cake or pie pan. I know, it's a square pan and that torte means cake, which are usually round. Please forgive me.
Spread the oil evenly over the entire cake pan (or brownie pan, if you are like me).
Sprinkle 1/4 C. of parmesan cheese onto the bottom of the pan.
Pour in the risotto.
Sprinkle the rest of the parmesan over the top and bake for 30 minutes. Once it's baked, let it cool for 30 minutes.
In a small bowl, combine the fresh parsley (or, if you do not have fresh parsley, you may use the dried kind)...
but if you use the dried kind, please only use about 1 tsp.
I ran out of parmesan cheese, so I used mozzarella. Please comine 1/2 C. of the cheese with the parsley.
Sprinkle on top of the cooled risotto torte.
Mmm...risotto torte...
We ate ours with garlic bread and salad. We loved it. LOVED IT! Delicious is not a strong enough word to describe how yummy it was. The rice was soft and you could taste the slight flavors. The girls loved it and Evan has asked to eat more risotto in the near future. I know that this is a very time consuming recipe, but I really enjoyed making it. And, it even reheated well as leftovers. Enjoy!!!