Green Risotto

Serves 4 as a main course

Green Risotto I loved to serve this for lunch in winter because it was food with such a beautiful color.

1/2 cup olive oil
1 medium onion) finely chopped
1-1/2 cups arborio rice
5 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup white wine
10 leaves fresh spinach

Heat the olive oil in a heavy 3-quart saucepan. Add the onion and sauté until golden brown, then add the rice and cook for a minute or so, stirring so that each grain is coated with oil. Meanwhile, heat the stock. Add the wine to the rice and cook until it has evaporated, then start adding the stock.

Pour in a little at a time, just enough so the rice is covered, then cook, stirring constantly, until the stock has been absorbed. Continue to add stock until the rice is the right consistency—al dente. This should take about 20 minutes. Begin tasting after about 15 minutes. You may not use all the stock, but judge by the texture of the rice, not the amount of liquid.

Wash the spinach leaves, then put them, still wet, into a blender and liquefy them. You may need to add a tiny bit more water. Add the purée to the rice and stir it in. The rice will become a nice green color.

Serve at once with Parmesan cheese.

Cooking for Madam
Recipes and Reminiscences from the
Home of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
By Marta Sgubin and Nancy Nicholas
Scribner
Hardcover, $30.00
ISBN: 0-684-85005-2
Recipe Reprinted by permission.