Basic Risotto

Risotto is a practical light-handed way of eating good rice flavored with simple tastes. This recipe suggests using springtime vegetables, young zucchini and green peas, but you can omit both and just make the dish without them. Alternatively, in fall and winter, instead of using fresh vegetables, you can use two ounces dried shiitake or porcini mushrooms, soaked for thirty minutes in one cup of ho