roasted garlic, thyme, and broccoli risotto

I admit it, I'm on a risotto kick. I can't help it. First, I had that absolutely delicious butternut squash risotto. I also had overbought, somewhat intentionally, risotto rice in bulk from Whole Foods, so it's just been looking at me from its clear IKEA food container on my teensy pantry shelf. Second, it's a little funny to me to realize that sometimes I can look in my fridge and truly have nothing to eat that constitutes any sort of meal in its own right (fruit, cheese, baguette, lunchmeat, whatever), but have 85% of the ingredients that I need (and 100% of the ones I deeply care about using) to make something considerably more complicated and time consuming, like risotto. Tonight, I peeked into my fridge and saw (yes, I'm going to tell you everything in my fridge):

1/4 bottle of white wine, creme fraiche, parmesan, feta, eggs, corn tortillas, a can of tuna, lemon simple syrup, a bag of unopened baby carrots, butter (three types), beer (Shiner light blonde - a 12 pack going on its 4th week in my possession even though I like it), salsa, mayo, mustard, jelly, unopened caramel syrup, and a jar of active dry yeast

And since I pretty regularly have scrambled eggs in a tortilla with salsa (dinner last night) or breakfast food (french toast and scrambled eggs for lunch today), I was feeling unenthused about another round of that ingredient combination. I remembered hearing about a thyme something-or-other risotto so I googled that and came upon a Jamie Oliver recipe, which I knew had to be the one. I didn't exactly have all the precise ingredients (as you can compare the ingredient list to my fridge, you'll see that I was missing onion/shallot [which is rather inexcusable], celery, fresh thyme, bread crumbs, and almonds), but I felt like I could substitute in things (or just pretend they weren't listed) and if it didn't work, I'd only have myself to blame. This is the best part of cooking for one: if it isn't perfect, you don't have to sweat it. You don't even have to eat it, but I usually do.

Luckily for me, I thought it turned out quite well and scarfed the whole thing down. Maybe a more ladylike version of scarfed, but not much more impressive as I have now gotten into the habit of sitting on my rug and eating at my coffee table while craning my neck to watch tv (with my new controller! I live in the 21st century!!). I must apologize for being so chatty. I'm reading Tina Fey's Bossypants and it is so totally hilarious I can't even not laugh like a lunatic, so it's good that I read it by myself in my solitary confinement studio apartment. Somehow reading that and being chatty are related.

 So yes, when the garlic comes out, you just chop off the top and then squeeze out the soft, mushy roasted garlic cloves. This makes it look considerably neater than the process was and neglects to show that it was all over my hands, which I proceeded to happily lick off before washing them and continuing with cooking. It's amazing how garlic goes from insanely overpowering to pleasant and almost sweet after being roasted.

Since I rather significantly diverged from the real recipe and also made about 1/4 of it (which means probably more than 1 serving but shhh), I'll just post what I actually made instead of parading his recipe as if I actually followed it. I take this as a sign of my growing confidence in my ability to cook instead of my actually being a foolhardy dumdum to think that Jamie Oliver's recipe isn't God's wish for dinner.


.75 large head garlic, whole and unpeeled [or you know, whatever's lying around]
1 cup (or so) chicken stock [I boiled some water in a saucepan and threw in half a bouillon cube and used what I needed]
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
Some frozen broccoli [however much you want to eat, I cooked mine for a couple minutes first]
1/2 cup risotto rice [arborio rice, as I've learned]
1 wine glass worth of white wine [or just pour some in, like me!]
salt
dried thyme [sprinkle a few pinches]
black pepper
1/4 cup of creme fraiche
grated parmesan [okay, even I will not ever stoop to the sawdust stuff]

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Roast the whole garlic head on a dish in the oven until soft, about 30 minutes. [Yep, just stick it in there and let it hang out until it gets soft and will burn the heck out of your fingers.]

Heat the stock. In a separate pan heat the olive oil, garlic, and broccoli, and fry slowly for about 4 minutes. When the vegetables have softened, add the rice and turn up the heat.

The rice will now begin to fry, so keep stirring it. After a minute it will look slightly translucent. Add the  wine and keep stirring.

Once the wine has cooked into the rice, add your first ladle of hot stock and a good pinch of salt. Separate the roasted garlic cloves and squeeze out the sweet insides into the risotto. [If you are me, this will require you making a mess of several instruments in an effort not to burn your fingers before giving up and alternating between squeezing out the garlic and whimpering and then mashing it between your fingers into the risotto like a 4 year old with a banana.]

Add the thyme and black pepper to the risotto. Turn down the heat to a highish simmer, so the rice doesn't cook too quickly on the outside. Keep adding ladles of stock.

Remove from the heat and add the creme fraiche and Parmesan. Stir gently. Place a lid on the pan and allow to sit for 2 to 3 minutes. Eat as soon as possible while the risotto retains its perfect texture.