This is not Risotto.
It tastes a lot like risotto – it’s creamy, uses arborio rice and looks a lot like risotto – it has a similar texture to risotto, but without all the babysitting that traditional risotto needs.
Call it whatever you like – I call it delicious and unforgettable! So delicious that now, just less than a week later, I have no idea what I served with this “side” dish. This side dish was totally #1 in our books and is a meal in and of itself. A beautiful vegetarian one two-dish meal with limited hands-on time.
I modified this a bit from the original recipe because I left my shopping list at home and didn’t realize that the dish called for fresh spinach and instead got a box of frozen spinach. I thawed the frozen spinach in the microwave and wrung out the excess water using a strainer and it worked like a charm. Since I usually have frozen spinach on hand, this could be one of those dishes that comes in handy when it seems like I’ve got nothing in the house

Recipe type: Main or SideServes: 4-6Ingredients
- 3.25 cups vegetable broth
- 1 cup arborio rice
- 1 Tbsp. butter
- 1 small onion, finely diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pkg frozen spinach, thawed and all water squeezed out
- 1/4 lb. cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1/4 cup milk, warmed slightly*
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, bring the broth to a boil. Stir in the rice and then top with a tight-fitting lid. Reduce the heat to simmer and cook until the rice is almost fully cooked and the broth is nearly all absorbed. Turn off the heat and allow the rice to cook on its own.
- Meanwhile, heat the butter in a medium pan. Add the onion and let cook for a couple of minutes, then add in the garlic, cooking until the onion is tender. Stir in the spinach and cook until the spinach is heated through.
- Add the spinach mixture to the cooked rice, along with the cheese and milk. Season to taste with salt and pepper and stir until everything is combined and well-mixed. Mix in more broth or milk if the rice is too dry. Serve immediately.
Notes
*I didn’t warm the milk and found that the addition of the cold milk cooled down the entire dish. I would warm the milk to a temperature a bit warmer than room temp.