Creamy Leek Risotto

I asked for (and received) the Silver Spoon cookbook last year for Christmas. This is the quintessential Italian cookbook that had never been translated to English before. I cannot tell you how much I love this book. The first thing I tried from it was amazing, and I keep making it, or a version of it, on a regular basis.

Again, I'm sorry that there is not lovely steaming picture of this after it was finished....did I mention our trip to the ER last night? Yeah, I did, a couple of times...

Creamy Leek Risotto
2 TB Butter
4 small leeks, white and light green parts only, cleaned and thinly sliced
6 cups chicken stock
2 cups Arborio rice
¾ cup heavy cream
Salt & pepper
½ cup Parmesan cheese

In a saucepan, warm the stock gently. You don’t want the stock to be cold when you add it into the rice. Melt butter in a large sauce pan, add the leeks and cook about 5 minutes. Add a tablespoon of water or stock and simmer about 20 minutes, until the leeks are tender. Stir the uncooked rice into the leeks and cook, stirring in 1 ladle full of stock at a time. After each addition of stock, stir the rice, allowing it to absorb the liquid before adding more. When all of the stock has been absorbed, stir in the cream, parmesan, and season with salt and pepper, if necessary.
NOW! When I make this as a side dish for a meal, I plan on having leftovers the next day. Why? Well, for starters, because it is heavenly. But also because it makes for one hellaciously tasty breakfast treat. Here’s what you do:

You’re going to need at least a couple of cups of leftover risotto for this. Brown one pound of your favorite breakfast sausage and drain all the grease off. Mix the sausage into the leftover risotto until it is well combined. Form the mixture into patties. Mix together 1 cup of Italian seasoned breadcrumbs and ½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese and gently coat the patties in it. Heat butter in a large skillet and gently fry the patties until golden on both sides. Serve hot with (or without) whatever else you want for breakfast!