Dinner - Roasted Cauliflower Risotto

Let me first apologize for the awful looking photo of this recipe! That being said, be sure you watch the cauliflower and almonds carefully while they are roasting, otherwise, like my photo, you will have pieces that are burnt rather than roasted. Sad.

All in all, this was a decent dish. It could use a protein with it, which would make it an even better side dish than a main course. We enjoyed it alright, and will likely keep this recipe around for a future dinner.

The things that I liked about this recipe were that it uses many things that you already have in your pantry. The items you need to buy for the recipe are relatively inexpensive, and it is a semi-elegant dish. So, if you're looking for a nice side dish to serve, this would fit the bill.

The recipe also did not take very long to make, less than an hour, and it uses the oven for about 15 minutes, so it could be perfectly timed to be finished at the same time as say a chicken breast or steak cooked on the stovetop.

Roasted Cauliflower Risotto
(From the March 2011 issue of the Food Network Magazine)

Ingredients:
-1 head cauliflower, stems chopped and set aside, and florets cup into 1/2 inch pieces
-3 tablespoons olive oil
-Salt and pepper
-1/4 cup sliced almonds
-1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
-1-1/2 cups short-grain Italian rice (we used arborio)
-1 clove garlic, minced
-1/2 cup dry white wine
-3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
-2 tablespoons unsalted butter (I used salted and it tasted fine)
-4 ounces fontina cheese, grated
-1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh parsley

Move oven racks to the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Preheat oven to 475 degrees.
Toss cauliflower florets with 1 tablespoon olive oil on a baking sheet. Spread in single layer and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 5 minutes on the upper rack. Add almonds and roast until cauliflower is tender, about 15 minutes longer (check after 10 minutes to ensure they don't burn!).
Heat remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in Dutch oven over high heat. (We don't have a Dutch oven, so I used one of our cooking pots and transferred the contents to a casserole dish to finish baking at the end.) Add onion and cauliflower stems. Cook, stirring, until onion is translucent, about 3 minutes.
Add rice and garlic. Cook, stirring, for another 2 minutes.
Add wine and cook, stirring until evaporated, another 1-2 minutes.
Add broth, 2 cups water, and 1 teaspoon salt.
Cover and bring to a boil.
Transfer the Dutch oven to the lower oven rack and bake until rice is tender, about 15 minutes (this is the point where I transferred the food to the casserole dish. I lowered the temp to about 400 degrees and it seemed to work fine).
Remove rice from oven and add butter, fontina, and parsley, stirring until risotto is creamy, about 1-2 minutes.
Place in serving bowls and top with roasted cauliflower and almonds.