Baked Risotto with Green Beans

I have never made risotto, as in, the kind you have to stand and stir and stir until the rice is fluffy and the broth is (mostly) soaked up. The whole idea of making risotto is kind of scary to me. But, I wondered if you could make baked risotto, stir it for a minute and then pop it in the oven and let it do it’s thing. I like this idea MUCH better than standing over the stove stirring. I am so pleased that this turned out so well! This may not be a classic risotto, but both me and my dinner companions really enjoyed it, and the leftovers were divine.

Baked Risotto with Green Beans

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 white onion, sliced thinly and separated into strips
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon oregano or basil
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1 1/2 cps Arborio rice
3 cups chicken or vegetable broth

1 1/2 pounds fresh green beans, trimmed into 1 1/2″ pieces
1/2 grated Parmesan cheese, for topping

*If you have a Dutch oven or stovetop-to-oven pan, use that. I don’t have one and used a saucepan and then an 8×8 glass dish and it turned out just fine.

In medium saucepan heat olive oil, add onion and garlic and spices, cook until onion is translucent, about 5-7 minutes. Add the rice and broth and bring to a boil and the simmer for 3 minutes. Dump the rice into an 8×8 glass dish, carefully cover with foil, and pop into the oven for 25-30 minutes, stirring once halfway through.

While that is cooking, rinse out the saucepan and fill it halfway with water, bring to a boil. When it is simmering nicely blanch the green beans by dropping them in the boiling water for a few minutes and the scooping them out with a slotted spoon or dumping them in a colander. Rinse with cold water and set aside.

When the rice is done cooking, carefully stir the green beans right into the 8×8 dish. Top with Parmesan and serve while hot.

This was a side dish to some baked halibut with lemon and they went so well together! Recommended! Inspired by this recipe from Williams-Sonoma