I imagine we have all gone to a restaurant at some point in our lives and had something so tasty that it left you thinking to yourself, “I need this in my life!” This dish was one of those for me. I discovered it during our trip to the U.P. back in September. My husband and I went out for dinner with my SIL at Lagniappe’s in the beautiful city of Marquette. I ordered the All Vegetable Risotto based on our waiter’s recommendation. Let me tell you…IT WAS THE BOMB! Hands down one of the best meals I have ever had. And since Marquette is not exactly around the corner from us, I obviously had to figure out how to recreate this delicious recipe at home. It may not be a spot on match…but it turned out pretty darn close. I also love how you can easily customize this recipe by using the veggies that you choose, in the amounts that you choose! I hope you love this dish as much as I do!

Recipe

Veggies of your choice. You really can’t go wrong here. For dish pictured above I used onion, green pepper, zucchini, roasted red peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, and asparagus

1 1/2 Cups Arborio Italian Style Rice for Risotto dishes

5-6 Cups Vegetable Broth or Stock

1-2 Cups of Cheese, depending on how much you like. I used about 1 1/2 cups of shredded sharp cheddar & a dash of grated parmesan

1/3 Cup White Cooking Wine

2 Tablespoon Minced Garlic…OK…I use more like 4 Tablespoon, but that’s probably excessive

Garlic Salt, Pepper, Cayenne Pepper, Paprika to taste

Olive Oil

Cut up your choice of veggies into bite size pieces. In a large stock pot heat olive oil over medium heat. Add your chopped veggies, cooking wine, and minced garlic. Cover and simmer veggies over low to medium heat until desired doneness. In a different large pot heat up 2 cups of vegetable broth/stock and bring just to boil. Add the Arborio Italian Rice. Simmer and let the rice absorb the broth. Add another cup of broth/stock and continue to simmer. Repeat with more broth/stock if necessary until rice is cooked into desired texture. Combine rice and veggies into one pot. Add cheeses, garlic salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, and paprika to your taste. Stir to melt everything together. Dig in and enjoy!