Creamy Garlic Risotto

My favorite tv chef is the sweet little Italian Giada De Laurentiis.  All of her meals look and taste delicious!  This is only the second time I've made risotto.  It's easy enough, but requires your full attention for about 45 minutes or more.  Giada's recipe says it should take about 20 minutes total, but my risotto was still too firm.  So I added even more chicken broth and kept stirring and stirring until it was tender and creamy.  Giada also uses 1/2 cup white wine with the rice on the first round of stirring, but I just prefer to use all chicken broth.  I also added lots of garlic.  Substituting roasted garlic instead of the sauteed garlic would be delicious too.  You definitely have time to roast garlic in the oven while the risotto is cooking..just stir it in at the end of the cooking process with the parmesan cheese. 

Ingredients:

7 cups reduced sodium chicken broth (give or take)
3 T butter
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

In a medium saucepan, bring the chicken broth to a simmer.  Cover the broth and keep hot over low heat.  In a large saucepan, melt 2 T butter over medium heat.  Add the onion and saute until tender, about 4 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook another minute.  Add the rice, stir, and cook 3 minutes.  Ladle in 1/2 cup of simmering chicken broth and stir until almost completely absorbed.  Add another 1/2 cup of broth and keep cooking rice while stirring.  Continue this process until the rice is tender and the mixture is creamy.  Remove from the heat and stir in the parmesan cheese, 1 T butter, and pepper.  Taste for seasoning and adjust.  Be careful with the salt since the parmesan cheese and broth are both salty.  Serve immediately...or it will become very gummy quickly.  Enjoy!