Easy Side Dishes: Hot Pepper & Mozza Risotto

Risotto is delicious and easy to make. This version uses hot pepper flake and mozzarella cheese to make something smooth and tasty. And it only takes about 25 minutes to prepare. Make a slightly larger batch and you can serve it as a main course.


You can use other types of rice, if you like. A short grained rice like Arborio rice works well, but other rice will also produce a delicious meal. The texture will be slightly different, but that's not always a bad thing.


Ingredients


¼ cup butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 crushed garlic cloves
1½ cups Arborio rice
2 cups vegetable broth
2½ cups water
½ cup mozzarella cheese, grated or shredded
½ tsp dried hot pepper flakes
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
¼ tsp black pepper
1 tsp sea salt


Preparation


Before you begin, place the water and the vegetable broth in a saucepan and warm it over low heat on the stove. This will keep it warm so you're not adding cold liquid to a warm pan later.


Melt the butter in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic, cooking until onion is translucent, about 3 minutes. Add rice and toss to coat the grains in butter. Using a ladle, add about 1 cup of liquid from the saucepan to the rice, stirring almost constantly. When the liquid has been almost absorbed, add another scoop of liquid, still using the ladle. Continue adding liquid when needed until you've used all the liquid. Make sure to stir constantly.


By now, the rice should be soft and almost creamy. When you add the final scoop of liquid, add all remaining ingredients to the rice and remove it from the heat. Stir well until cheese is melted and seasoning is well distributed.


Serve immediately. Leftover risotto can be refrigerated. To reheat, throw in a pan over medium-high heat and add ¼ cup of water. Stir constantly until risotto is hot.