Chopped!

Anyone would be familiar with this feeling: You've been busy all day, the sun's gone down, your home looks like a pigsty and you just don't feel like doing anything about it now. None of that really matters anyway, because you note (a little late) that you're pretty hungry! And when you go into the kitchen and stare, glazed over, into the cabinet and then the fridge, you realize that you've not got much to work with.

You may enjoy watching (as I do) the TV game show "Chopped". It's been on Netflix lately, so go take a TV binge on that show and get in a cooking mood. I think there's only one season posted, so it won't be too time consuming. Each episode starts out by introducing a few professional chefs who begin by preparing an appetizer with three random-seeming ingredients which must all be included. The cook of the least delicious dish is eliminated after a tasting, and so on for the main and dessert courses.

So what to do when you look into the cabinet and the most promising ingredients are a can of anchovies in olive oil and a jar of Arborio rice? Then in the fridge, you haven't got much but a couple eggs, a half empty bag of frozen peas and - whoa - there's that leftover quarter of an onion you last cut a piece from about a week and a half ago.

What to make? You take inspiration from the TV game show with the random ingredient assignments! You make risotto!

This dish is not going to be pictured. Taking a look through my files, I realize that I failed to take any pictures because the risotto was so delicious that we finished it off before it was cool enough to stop burning our mouths.

Start out like this:  In a medium saucepan, heat about 6 cups of broth or stock (chicken or veggie are both fine. I like to use Better than Bouillon mixed with water.) until simmering and keep it hot on the lowest heat possible. While the stock is heating...

Take that leftover quarter of an onion (or that big shallot you forgot about in the cabinet) and cut it into the finest dice possible. Then go over it again and mince it. You want the bits to be nearly as small as rice, so they don't stand out in the finished product. Heat a nice glug of olive oil or chunk of butter or (best of all) spoonful of saved bacon fat in a medium saucepan and drop in the onion when the oil has gotten nice and hot.

I also like to mince 3 or 4 cloves of garlic and put them in with the onion. Saute this mixture for several minutes, until the onion is softened. Not over too high a heat level, or the garlic will burn. Add a few shakes of salt and a few grinds of pepper. Then pour in:

• 1 1/4 c. risotto rice (Arborio is just fine)

...and saute it for a minute until all the grains of rice are shiny with the hot oil. Then pour in half a cup or so of wine (White is usually recommended, but red was what we had leftover) and use that to deglaze the pan. Keep stirring it constantly until the liquid is almost all absorbed.

By now your pan of stock is hot and barely simmering, so take a couple ladlefuls (maybe a cup or so) and dump them into the rice pan. Give this a good stir, and stir it well again a few more times until the liquid is mostly absorbed.

Continue with this technique. If you've looked up a risotto recipe before, it probably told you to stir constantly until you are done. You totally shouldn't have to do that - just a few good stirs between stock additions will be sufficient, because if you stir it too much, it can get gummy. Blecchh. After 15-20 minutes or so, you should start tasting your rice for doneness. Ideally you are looking for a texture in which the rice is al dente, yet also suspended in a saucy, creamy liquid.

When the rice is a few minutes from being done, put in 4 or 5 fillets of anchovy. This is the right amount that will give your risotto an extra savory flavor without making it taste fishy. Might as well pour in a little of the tasty olive oil from their can, too. The anchovies will break up and incorporate into the rice as you stir it. Also at this point, add some frozen peas, whatever amount looks good to you. Maybe 3/4 cup or so? When the rice has reached a nice, creamy yet still al dente texture, let the liquid reduce until it's definitely not soupy, but still loose. Take it off the heat, then grate a nice pile of Parmigian or similar cheese (Grana Padano, Romano) into the pot and fold it in. Plate it and garnish with a little more grated cheese if you want. Take a bite and relish the burning sensation on the roof of your mouth. Go ahead, burn your mouth again... It's too delectable to stop eating now!

If you want to take this dish over the top, fry one egg per person to just past over-easy and put it on top. This is what we did at home, and it's also a good thing to do when you want to heat leftover risotto for breakfast.