Smoked Salmon Risotto with Lemon and Mascarpone

Ingredients
6 ounces smoked salmon, divided (Not the lox style smoked salmon.)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 ²⁄₃ cups Arborio rice
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 cup white wine
4 cups chicken broth
3 ounces mascarpone cheese
3 tablespoons parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon lemon zest
Lemon juice, to taste
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Instructions
1. Reserve a few large pieces of salmon for garnish and roughly chop the remaining salmon.  Set aside. 

2. Heat oil in a large pot over medium high heat.  Add onion and sauté until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.  Add the rice and garlic and cook for 2 more minutes, until rice is opaque and garlic is fragrant.  Add the white wine and 1 cup of broth.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium.  Simmer, stirring frequently, until most of the liquid has been absorbed.  Add another cup of broth and continue to cook, stirring often, until absorbed.  Repeat additions until all the broth is used and rice is tender and creamy.  (If the rice is not tender after you’ve added all of the broth, add extra broth or water in the same manner until rice is tender.) 

3. Remove from heat.  Add mascarpone and stir until melted.  Add the chopped salmon, parsley, and lemon zest.  Stir well, season with lemon juice, salt, and pepper. 

4. Serve topped with pieces of  reserved salmon. 

Comments
It’s pretty safe to say that risotto is one of my favorite foods.  It’s infinitely flexible, easy to prepare, and always delicious.  I’ve averaged one new risotto recipe a month in the last 10 months and I’m always on the lookout for new variations.  I found this one at the Not So Humble Pie blog and knew I had to give it a try.  Better yet, with the addition of a nice salad, it’s a complete meal in and of itself.  This is always a bonus on busy evenings. 

It is a bit different than the risotto method I’ve used in the past as it doesn’t call for the broth to be heated prior to adding to the rice.  But I gave it a go and it worked!  How easy!  I might use this method for all risottos in the future! 

This risotto was fantastic and I hope it’s one that I’ll revisit in the future.  I highly recommend it.  The measurements for the mascarpone and smoked salmon don’t need to be exact, so feel free to eyeball the measurements if you don’t have a scale.

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