30 Minute Meal: Drunken Risotto with Sausage and Spinach

Ingredients

3 cups dry red wine
2 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons EVOO - Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3/4 pound bulk Italian sweet or hot sausage
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
Salt and pepper
1/3 pound bundled farm spinach leaves, stemmed and chopped, about 2 cups, packed
Freshly grated nutmeg, to your taste

2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup grated pecorino cheese

Yields: Serves 4

Preparation

Heat wine and stock and keep warm over low flame.

Use a heavy pot with rounded sides to prepare risotto. Add 2 turns EVOO to the pan and heat over medium to medium-high flame. Add sausage and brown and crumble for a couple of minutes, then add onions and garlic and soften them up for a couple of minutes more. Stir in rice and combine, season with salt and pepper.

Start adding warm liquids a couple of ladles at a time, stirring vigorously each time you add the liquids to develop the starch. Allow liquids to almost fully evaporate before adding more. From the time you begin adding the liquids, the risotto will take 18 minutes to prepare. In the last 5 minutes of cook time, stir in the spinach, wilting it in one handful at a time. Stir a little freshly grated nutmeg into the risotto, about 1/8 teaspoon. In the last minute of cook time melt in 2 tablespoons butter then stir in cheese - a couple of handfuls of sharp grated pecorino.