Well, "girls night" was going to be Greek themed, but lemon risotto is Italian; so sue me!  I used to think that linguine carbonara was my "signature" dish. I was soooo proud of myself for totally memorizing my recipe so I could just throw it together whenever; and feel like an awesome chef at the same time. That was before the lemon risotto. It's right up there with creme brulee as being so sumptuous you want to bang your fist on the table and roll your eyes...okay, I may have actually done that the first time I made it. If you know me well, as my family does, I don't take disappointment well, and if a recipe doesn't turn out how I expect it to, have mercy! On the other hand, when a recipe turns out better than expected, I do a happy dance!

This recipe is from www.epicurious.com and  was originally published in Bon Appetit magazine in 2002. I can't believe I used to only search for recipes on Allrecipes.com...there's a whole world out there when you "Google"! Really, there's almost too much information...anyway, here's the fabulous recipe:

Lemon Risotto

6 cups chicken broth (I made mine from powdered concentrate)

3 1/2 TBL butter

1 1/2 TBL olive oil

2 large shallots, chopped

2 cups arborio rice

1/4 cup dry white wine

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 TBL chopped fresh parsley

2 TBL fresh lemon juice

4 tsp. grated lemon peel

Bring broth to simmer in a large saucepan over medium heat. Reduce heat to low; cover to keep warm. Melt 1 1/2 TBL with oil in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots and saute until tender, about 6 minutes. Add rice; stir one minute. Add wine and stir until evaporated, about 30 seconds.  Add 1 1/2 cups hot broth; simmer until absorbed, stirring frequently.  Add remaining broth 1/2 cup at a time, allowing broth to be absorbed before adding more and stirring frequently until rice is creamy and tender, about a total of 35 minutes (this is by far the MOST IMPORTANT part of the process!) When all the broth has been incorporated, stir in cheese and remaining 2 TBL butter.  Stir in  parsley, lemon juice and lemon peel. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a bowl and serve.

The finished product is quite yellow and smells very lemon-ey! Oh my! I served it to my guests along with a very hearty Greek salad (Romaine lettuce, Kalamata olives, grape tomatoes, cucumbers from my garden, garbanzo beans, chunks of Feta cheese and a Greek Feta vinaigrette) and sundried tomato foccacia. And a few bottles of chilled Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. Oh, and the chunky chocolate jam bars pictured in my last post. Girls night rocks!