Baked Lemon Risotto

Here’s a look at what’s going on inside my oven and a peek at what’s going on waaaay outside of my oven.

The good news:  I made beautifully creamy, starchy, and flavorful risotto using my oven and not my stovetop.  One stir!  That’s all you need.  While I know that this seems sacrilegious for any dish claiming the name Risotto… this rice is simple creamy starch.  So completely satisfying.

The great news:  I got to meet some of your beautiful faces in San Francisco this Sunday afternoon!  Thank you for all of you gorgeous-souled people who came out to Omnivore Books!

I’ll tell you now, and I’ll tell you approximately 1 million more times…  I LOVE being out in the world meeting you all.  I am so thankful.  So humbled.  So stoked to take pictures with you and talk about yams.  You are incredible.

Can we talk rice?  Are you down?

I’ve always stayed away from Risotto.  It seemed like a dish that needed a good deal of babysitting.  I’m more of a dump, go, sling pans, flip pancakes kind of cook in the kitchen.  Knowing that I can put something in the oven means that I can assemble it, and forget about it’s existence for at least 20 minutes.

… In that time I can try not to over-steam my broccoli or burn my chicken.

Putting dinner together is a suuuper juggling act.

This rice makes the whole process just about 32 times easier.

Flavored with sauteed onions, fresh thyme, big bright lemon, and spicy chili flakes… the rices comes out of the oven full of flavor.  Just add salt and Parmesan cheese… perfection!

Pretty grains of rice with delicate flavors.  Ready for baking!

I love the thought of raw rice.  So much potential.  So much room for growth and softness.

Let’s just get it going with chicken stock and oven heat.  The mixture bakes for about 40 minutes with just one stir.  ONE STIR!

I like to think of risotto as savory rice pudding.  With Parmesan cheese, herbs, lemon, and salt… this dish is TOTALLY savory rice pudding.  Sure, it’s good along with dinner.  But… it’s also awesome eaten right out of the pan, or eaten cold in the middle of the night.

Midnight starch.  Believe in the magic.

Here are a few scenes from this weekend’s book signing events.  Color.  Pattern.  Feet.

I signed a lot of books this weekend… but I also signed a Kitchen Aid mixer!  Whoa.

Let me be clear.  Someone carted their Kitchen Aid mixer from their cozy kitchen counter and into a bookstore for me to write on with a permanent marker.

I can’t even tell you how nervous I was to write on this machine.  I have mad respect for these machines!

Tracy and her mom Bev came to the book sing.  Major!  The best part!?  Tracy’s mom got to meet my mom.  I call it “When Mom’s Collide”.  This picture warms my heart.

Thank you for being here, reading about rice, looking at my pictures, and coming back for more!  You are the everything!

I had no idea this could be so easy!