Risotto with Rosemary and Thyme

This Herb Risotto with Rosemary and Thyme recipe uses fresh herbs and goat cheese to create a creamy and delicious risotto.

What makes this risotto recipe work is how the combination of fresh herbs and different types of cheese add all sorts of interesting textures and flavors to a dish that is great on its own or as something special to build a meal around.

Tips for Making Better Risotto

One of the best tips we’ve found to making risotto is to use a combination of butter and olive oil to toast the rice in at the beginning of the cooking process.  Using the two together helps to add depth of flavor. The key is to keep stirring the risotto while it is toasting to keep it from burning and to keep it on the stove until it smells toasted.

It’s easy to under-toast the rice because you’re worried about it burning.  Something that is easy to get over after you’ve made this recipe a few times and get the hang of what the rice smells like when it’s been toasted.

The reason it helps to warm the stock in a separate pot is that adding cold stock to the risotto while its cooking can lower the temperature in the pot and mess with the rice’s cooking process.

Using white pepper in this recipe instead of black pepper is mostly for appearances.  Adding black pepper into a dish where almost all the other colors are white can make the final dish look somewhat dirty.

A few recipes we love serving with this risotto are Sous Vide Rack of Lamb and Grilled Mushrooms.  If you’re making it in the spring it never hurts to add some Grilled Asparagus.

Herb Risotto with Rosemary and Thyme

4.3 from 8 votes

This Herb Risotto with Rosemary and Thyme recipe uses fresh herbs and goat cheese to create a creamy and delicious risotto. What makes this risotto recipe work is how the combination of fresh herbs and different types of cheese add all sorts of interesting textures and flavors to a dish that is great on its own or as something special to build a meal around.

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Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients

• ▢ 2 cups arborio rice
• ▢ 4 to 4-1/2 cups stock
• ▢ 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
• ▢ 1/2 cup Romano cheese
• ▢ 2 oz goat cheese
• ▢ 1 1/2 cups shallot, minced
• ▢ 2 cloves garlic
• ▢ 4 tsp rosemary, divided
• ▢ 4 tsp thyme, divided
• ▢ 1 tbsp butter
• ▢ 2 tbsp olive oil
• ▢ 1/2 tsp white pepper
• ▢ 1/2 tsp salt

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Instructions 

• Start by mincing the garlic, shallot, rosemary, and thyme.
• You’ll need two pots for this recipe, one to warm the stock and one to cook the risotto. Warm the stock on low heat.
• Put the second pot on medium-high heat and toast the rice in olive oil and butter. Make sure to stir the rice as it toasts to keep it from burning. The rice is toasted when it has a warm, nutty aroma to it, usually 3 to 4 minutes.
• Add the shallot, garlic, and 3 tsp each of rosemary and thyme. Start to add the stock a ladle or two at a time.
• Turn the heat down to medium-low and continue to stir the risotto as it cooks, adding stock as the rice absorbs the liquid.
• The amount of stock used will depend on the cooking temperature and the preferred consistency of the cook (e.g. runny or thick risotto).
• Stir the risotto slowly until all of the liquid has been absorbed. After cooking the risotto for 20 minutes and adding all the stock, mix in the cheese and continue stirring until the cheese melts. Check to see if the rice has finished cooking, it should be soft but still hold its shape.
• Stir in the salt, white pepper, and remaining rosemary and thyme.

Notes

For the cheese, a 1/2 cup of shredded Parmesan or Romano cheese is equivalent to 1 1/2 oz.

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Nutrition Information Hide

The nutrition information shown is an estimate based on available ingredients and preparation.