A few weeks ago I went to Jackson, WY to do a router upgrade. It had to be done late at night so I stayed at a hotel. You know what that means: Food TV! We don't have cable, dish, etc. at home (and prefer it that way), but I do miss Food Network some times. That night I saw somebody make risotto. It didn't really look that hard, so I determined to try it after I got home.

I googled around and got the basic idea. I determined to make it up as I went along, and it worked out alright. I should note that these pictures are from the second time I made this recipe. I also made a mushroom and onion risotto which was delicious.

First step is to get some diced tomatoes (about 1/2 cup) cooking in a little oil or butter. Saute until they start turning mushy. Set them aside for later.

Grab a can or jar of broth. You can use your favorite kind, chicken or veggie, store-bought or home-made. My preference is vegetable broth but I haven't actually tried anything else so who am I to say? You'll need 3-4 cups of it, but if you don't have quite that much you can use water for up to half the volume. It'll still taste OK.

Once you've got your broth, put it in a pan and heat it up to a simmer. You'll need to keep it warm the entire time you're cooking the risotto. Not too hot though.

Get another sauce pan and melt some butter in it. Toss in a 1/4 cup of chopped onion. Saute until the onions are soft and smell wonderful.

Toss in 1 cup of rice. You can use probably any kind of rice you want. The first couple times I used plain old long grain rice and it worked out well. My friend Levi recommended I tried Arborio rice which is supposed to be especially awesome for risotto.

Cook the rice until it get warm and crispy, but don't let it get brown. Keep it on medium-low heat. Just as it's ready to turn brown, toss in a 1/2 cup of broth. Stir it around until the rice has soaked up all the liquid. Then toss in another 1/2 cup. Stir, add, repeat until the rice is soft and yummy. Don't be afraid to taste test!

Pull over the tomatoes you've been dutifully saving and pour it into the rice. Stir them until mixed well. Plate, serve and enjoy! You can see in this picture that we had them with hotdogs in buns. Risotto is a perfect way to class up any dinner.