Sausage Risotto with spinach and tomatoes

This was amazingly good. A little longer and involved in the preparation than I would normally like but it was definitely worth it. Porter even ate the spinach out of it.


3 1/2 c. chicken broth
1- 1lb pkg regular sausage (I use Jimmy Dean)
2 c. chopped leek (white portion only, but I only did 1 c with a little green)
1 c. chopped fennel bulb (I think that I used 2 c. to make up for the missing leek)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 c. uncooked arborio rice
1/2 c. chicken broth
1 pkg (6oz) fresh baby spinach (I only used half)
2 c. grape tomatoes, halved
2 Tbsp. minced fresh basil or 2 tsp dried
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 c. grated parmesan


In a small saucepan, heat broth and keep warm. In a large skillet, cook the sausage, leeks and fennel over medium heat until the meat is no longer pink; drain. Add garlic, cook 1 minute longer. Stir in rice; and cook 2-3 minutes. Reduce heat; stir in broth. Cook and stir until all the liquid is absorbed.


Add heated broth, 1/2 c. at a time, stirring constantly. Allow liquid to absorb between additions. Cook just until risotto is creamy and rice is almost tender, about 20 minutes. Add the spinach, tomatoes, and pepper. Cook and stir until heated through. Sprinkle with cheese and serve immediately.


For those of you who don't know....on the left is what a fennel bulb looks like (just cut up the actual bulb. And even though it looks like an onion, it smells like licorice but doesn't taste like either), and on the right is a leek (used in a lot of asian recipes, kind of like an asian green onion).