Sausage and Spinach Risotto

Risotto has become one of my favorite foods to eat.  It never gets boring because you can pretty much add whatever ingredients that you want! Risotto is so creamy but also has a richness to it that makes it so decadent.  The first ever risotto recipe I tried was Ellie Krieger's.  I love her recipes!  But the other night I tried to test out this Sausage and Spinach Risotto, which is actually very similar to Ellie’s.  I made a few changes based on the ingredients I had.  Also, in both recipes, I never use the white wine.   I will definitely be making this again but maybe adding in a few other vegetables!

Ingredients:

·         2 cups fat free chicken broth

·         1 cup fat free vegetable broth

·         1 cup water

·         1 tablespoon olive oil

·         8 oz. sliced mushrooms

·         5 oz. Sweet Italian chicken sausage, casings removed (2 links)

·         ½ cup chopped onion

·         3 cloves garlic minced (Spice World garlic)

·         1 cup uncooked Arborio rice

·         6 oz. spinach (I used frozen spinach)

·         ¼ cup shaved Parmesan cheese

·         Salt to taste

Directions:

1.       Mix broths and water together and add them to a sauce pan.  Simmer and then keep over low heat.

2.       Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat.  Add mushrooms and salt and sauté until the mushrooms are browned.  Remove from the pan and set aside

3.       Add chicken sausage to the same pan the mushrooms were in and sauté for about 2 minutes.  Then add onions and garlic.  Sauté for another 2 minutes. 

4.       Add rice to the pan with the sausage mix and sauté for about a minute. 

5.       Stir in 1 cup of the broth mixture and cook until the mixture is absorbed.  **The thing about risotto is that you must stir constantly so that the liquid is absorbed and the risotto gets cooked.  The whole process takes about 30 minutes**

6.       After this cup is absorbed, continue adding broth mixture ½ cup at a time and stir until the liquid is absorbed after each ½ cup.

7.       Once all the broth mixture is absorbed, remove the pan from the heat.  Add the mushrooms and spinach and stir. 

8.       Top the risotto with the shaved Parmesan.

I like to serve this as a main dish, so the serving size I use is 4.

Nutritional Information (serves 4): 292 calories, 6.9g fat, 45.2g carbohydrates, 3.1g fiber, 2.4g sugar, 12.5g protein

Weight Watchers points per serving: 8 points plus