Sausage & Vegetable Risotto; no Air Fryer

Risotto – my other favorite comfort food.

I would be happy to alternate soup with risotto for my meals, with lasagne thrown in occasionally for variety.

I’m easy to please.

And I like to make easy dinners.

Risotto is easy (regardless of what TV chefs try to tell you).

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Sausage & Vegetable Risotto

Print Recipe

This is a colorful, easy to make risotto.

• Author: Kate
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 20 minutes
• Total Time: 30 minutes
• Yield: 2 servings 1x
• Category: Risotto

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 2/3 cup (4.2oz, 125gr) Arborio rice (or other rice specifically for risotto – Carnaroli or Vialone Nano)
• 1/2 cup (4oz, 120ml) dry, white wine
• 2 1/4 cups (18oz, 540ml) chicken broth 
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese – freshly grated  (about 2oz, 60gr)
• Condimenti:
• 8oz (240gr) sausages, sliced, bite-size
• 1 medium – large carrot, chopped
• 1 rib celery, chopped
• 1/2 cup (2.5oz, 75gr) peas, no sauce
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped

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Instructions

• Heat chicken broth and keep hot over low heat.
• In medium saucepan heat oil over medium heat.
• Add 1/2 onion and sauté until tender.
• Add rice and sauté stirring, for 2 – 3 minutes until rice has white center.
• Add white wine and stir.
• Start condimenti.
• When wine is almost absorbed add a 1/3 cup of broth, stir.
• When broth is almost absorbed add another 1/3 cup and continue adding 1/3 cup at a time and stirring.
• Before the last 1/3 cup taste a few kernels of rice.  They should be just ‘al dente’ – slightly resistant to the tooth but fully cooked. 
• If more broth is needed add it 1/6 cup at a time and waiting until almost completely absorbed.
• At this point risotto will be thick but not stiff .
• Stir in the Parmesan and condimenti, spoon into a bowl or risotto platter and serve immediately.
• Condimenti:
• In a medium skillet: Sauté sausages until light brown.
• Remove from skillet.
• Add onion, carrot, celery and sauté until tender, about 10 minutes.
• Return sausage to skillet, add peas and stir to combine.
• Cover, reduce heat and let finish cooking for 5 – 10 minutes, or until needed

Notes

When risotto is ready there will still be visible liquid and it will not hold its shape on a plate.   It will continue to absorb liquid and the leftovers (if any) will be very stiff. One does not need to add butter or cream to make it creamy. In Italy, risotto is eaten with a spoon as a separate course.

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1/2 recipe
• Calories: 931
• Sugar: 6.7 g
• Sodium: 1397.2 mg
• Fat: 52 g
• Saturated Fat: 18.6 g
• Trans Fat: 0 g
• Carbohydrates: 68 g
• Fiber: 4.1 g
• Protein: 37.1 g
• Cholesterol: 105.6 mg

Keywords: risotto, sausage, vegetable

You could also try: Chicken, Spinach, & Butternut Squash Risotto

I thought more about the Air Fryer.

I thought it could be fun to have a new kitchen toy. After all, I’ve had the Instant Pot for almost 3 years now… It surely must be time.

Still – I was undecided.

Since I no longer have a crystal ball I asked Google: Why should I have an Air Fryer?

This is what I learned:

Food is cooked faster so I can cut down on the time I spend in the kitchen.
It’s great for heating up packaged, frozen foods like chicken nuggets… Better than the microwave.
It’s wonderful for re-heating take-out.
It will let your teens make their own after-school snacks.
It will make your kitchen a calmer, more peaceful place. (??)

There were more reasons for me but these were enough to convince me that I don’t need an Air Fryer:

Cooking a chicken breast in 15 minutes rather than 20 is not going to greatly contribute to my free time. Besides, I find the motions of cooking to be rather therapeutic. And I have an Instant Pot.
We don’t buy packaged frozen food or eat chicken nuggets.
We don’t get take-out (we live in the middle of nowhere!).
We don’t have teens.
A glass of wine and a little Mozart in the background makes my kitchen a very calm, peaceful place.

There was one ‘pro’ that really made me chuckle: An air fryer is easy to clean.

I’m not going to buy an appliance simply because it’s easy to clean…. I would want it to also be useful.

In my opinion, it could be useful for a young, family, with everyone running around, frantically busy, eating different meals at different times. But that is rather sad….. Eating together is important (also my opinion).

I’m not going to buy an air fryer.