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risotto with potatoes and herbs

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It is amazing how well potatoes meld with risotto, both absorbing their flavors, and not that heavy.

Ingredients:

two cups of Arborio rice (or the two other approved varieties)
five cups of chicken or vegetable stock, home-made or canned
six leaves of fresh sage
six sprigs of flat leaf parsley
six sprigs of fresh thyme
two cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
one small onion, finely diced
four tablespoons of olive oil
one pound of yellow potatoes; peeled and cut into quarter-inch squares
one-half cup dry white wine
one-quarter cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
one tablespoon of butter
one-half teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
one teaspoon salt and pepper

Fill a medium saucepan about two-thirds. Bring to a boil. Add salt. Add the squares of potato and cook until tender, maybe five minutes. Drain and set aside.

to cook the risotto: (a more detailed and elaborate description of the risotto cooking technique can be found at how to cook risotto).

Create the stock: put the chicken stock in a pan next to the risotto pan. Add the parsley, sage and thyme, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a slow simmer.

In a thick-bottomed pan (the risotto pan), over medium-high heat: add the olive oil and garlic. Let the garlic start to sizzle (two minutes at most). Add the onion. Cook until soft. Add the rice and stir until each grain is coated with the oil. Add the white wine. Cook and stir until it is absorbed by the rice, about two minutes. Add salt. Now add the hot stock (with the herbs strained out) ladle by ladle, only adding another ladle when the previous ladle of liquid has been absorbed, stirring almost all of the time. Continue adding the ladles of stock until the rice is properly done: twenty minutes or so.

Determine proper doneness by tasting regularly. When it is al dente, with a little creaminess, it is ready. Take off the heat. Stir in the potatoes, the parmesan, the minced rosemary, and the tablespoon of butter. Taste for salt. Plus a couple of good grindings of the pepper mill.

Let sit, covered, for two minutes. Serve.