RISOTTO WITH ARBORIO RICE AND SWISS CHARD

Ingredients

4 cups Swiss chard or spinach, coarsely chopped
5 ea Plum tomatoes, cored
2 cans Chicken or vegetable broth, 14 ½ ounce size
1 Tbsp Olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
2 ea Cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup Arborio rice, uncooked
½ cup Dry white wine, red is ok for this also
½ tsp Salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 cup Grated Parmesan or Romano cheese, or Mix them if you like

Directions

Wash the spinach and put it into a pan of boiling water. Set the timer for 4 minutes. Rinse with cold water and drain. Squeeze out the excess water and set aside for later.
If you want peeled tomatoes, bring another batch of water to boil. Place the tomatoes into the boiling water for two minutes. Remove them and plunge them into cold water. When they are cool enough to handle, peel them, dice them and set them aside. If you are in a hurry, leave the skins on and dice them.

Heat the broth over medium heat so that it will be close to boiling when you need it.

Heat a large pan over medium heat and add the olive oil to it. Add the onions and garlic and stir to mix with the oil. Saute on low heat until the onions become clear, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook for about five minutes stirring often. Add the rice and wine. Cook and stir until all of the liquid is gone. Add a cup of the hot broth, stir and put a lid on the pot. Stir occasionally. Add the spinach, salt, pepper and another cup of liquid. Cook another five minutes with the lid on, stirring occasionally. Keep doing this until the liquid has all been added and the rice is tender and has a creamy texture. The total cooking time will be about 25 minutes, but may vary, so taste on the rice to make sure. Add the cheese, salt and pepper and stir to mix.

Serve immediately while still hot.

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