Some years ago there was a sumptuous banquet in a place far away. The banquet was found in a land of mountainous beauty, and the meal echoed that beauty with its rich and abundant fare.

In other words, I attended a lovely dinner party in the Piedmont region of Italy several years back. All of the guests sat at long tables and servers brought each new course to each of us at our seats. I had never had a meal with so many courses in my life before, and haven’t had one like it, since!
Recently I had been yearning for some arborio rice to make risotto. It tends to be hard to find and on the pricey side when it is available, but I splurged and bought some. I also found a lovely, simple risotto recipe (here it is).

I am totally delighted with the recipe, as it really brought me back to that real risotto flavor that I had been longing for: creamy, with plump little ‘al dente’ rice grains and a delightful, nutty parmesan aroma. It reminded me of one of the courses at that banquet in Piedmont years ago, to bring the story full circle.
This recipe is on the menu again tonight, just to underline how much I loved it. If you’ve never made risotto before, this one is truly basic and a great recipe with which to start. If you have made risotto before, this recipe is a timeless classic and by no means unsophisticated.

*The photo of the Piedmont house is not my own, but was found on Pixabay.