Lemon and Parmesan Risotto

I tend to cook according to my cravings, and this week I was craving lemons. I decided to make some lemon risotto, and found this recipe in Giada's book, Giada's Kitchen: New Italian Favorites, and decided to serve it alongside the lemon chicken. It turned out fabulous! It was a great, fresh meal for spring! This recipe calls for mascarpone cheese, which is hard to find here, and expensive, so I substituted it with some cream cheese and a little bit of butter milk. You can also substitute with a combination of sour cream and whipping cream or butter.

4 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, divided

3 Tb. butter

2 shallots, or 1/2 onion, diced

1 1/2 cups Arborio rice

1/2 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup mascarpone cheese

Zest of 1 lemon

3/4 tsp. kosher salt

3/4 tsp. black pepper

2 Tb. chopped parsley

In medium saucepan, bring broth and 1/4 lemon juice to simmer. Cover and keep hot over low heat.

In another saucepan, or large skillet, melt the butter and sauté the shallots or onions 1-2 minutes. Add the rice and stir until coated with butter. Add the wine and remaining lemon juice and simmer until almost completely evaporated. Add 1/2 cup of the broth and stir until almost completely absorbed. Continue cooking and adding the broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring after each addition until all the broth has been added. This should take about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and and stir in the Parmesan cheese, the mascarpone cheese, the lemon zest and salt and pepper. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and garnish with parsley and serve.