Creamy Corn Risotto

Christmas Eve dinner is one of my favorite dinners to cook. Growing up Italian I always had seafood on Christmas Eve, a ton of seafood. However, being married to a man who developed an allergy to shellfish makes that difficult. So we decided to make up our own tradition, and every Christmas Eve we  make Beef Wellington (recipe in another post) and risotto. Generally we make a mushroom risotto, but this year we came across this recipe in my Cooking Light magazine and had to try it. We are so happy we did…this is so delicious! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 large red bell pepper

3 cans of corn, drained

1 3/4 cups 1% milk

2 TBS butter, divided

2 1/2 cups unsalted chicken stock

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup uncooked Arborio rice

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 dry white wine (I used a Sauvignon Blanc)

1/2 cup sliced green onions

Directions:

1. Pre-heat broiler to high.

2. Cut bell pepper in half lengthwise, discard seeds and membranes. Place pepper halves skin side up on a foil lined baking sheet and flatten with your hand. Broil 8 minutes or until blackened. Wrap peppers in foil and let stand for at least 5 minutes. Then peel off skin and chop.

3. Combine corn, milk and 1 TBS butter in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer; cook 10 minutes. Stir in stock; keep warm over low heat.

4. Melt remaining 1 TBS butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic to pan; sauté 3 minutes. Stir in rice, salt and pepper; sauté 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in wine; cook 30 seconds or until liquid is almost evaporated. Scrape up any brown bits. Reduce heat to medium. Stir in 1.5 cups corn mixture; cook 3 minutes or until liquid is almost absorbed, stirring constantly. Add remaining corn mixture 1 cup at a time, stirring frequently and make sure liquid is absorbed before adding next cup. This takes about 20 minutes.

5. Once all the corn mixture is added, remove from heat and stir in red bell pepper and green onions. Serve immediately and enjoy!