Garlic Parmesan Risotto & Broccoli

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Garlic Parmesan Risotto & Broccoli is one of my all-time favorite recipes. There are so many wonderful key flavors that pair perfectly together: garlic, Parmesan, white wine, and lemon. The recipe started as a chicken scampi, but after changing it a little each time, it’s now Garlic Parmesan Risotto & Broccoli.

Recipe Variations

The original recipe didn’t call for onion or lemon, so I added those right off the bat. The broccoli was a later addition and it not only adds some color, but also nutrition. Feel free to experiment with any other veggies such as spinach, asparagus, or mushrooms. I also switched from using plain white rice to Arborio to make it a creamy risotto rather than a scampi.

In terms of meat, this recipe is perfect if you have a mixed household of vegetarians and omnivores. Try pan-frying chicken breast tenders with olive oil, garlic powder, salt, and pepper and add it at the very end.

If meat isn’t a concern at all, you could also use chicken broth instead of veggie. However, ever since I learned to make my own vegetable broth, I haven’t had to buy any which is a great money-saver. Check out my post on Recycling Veggies into Broth to learn how!

Cooking with Wine

As far as the white wine goes, let’s just say it’s a key component. If you don’t have any on hand, it’s tempting to substitute broth, but it seriously contributes so much flavor. In all honesty, any dry white wine will do, as long as you don’t use “cooking wine”. My philosophy with cooking wine is that if it’s not something you would drink on it’s own, why on Earth would you cook with it!? Besides, you only a need a half cup, so the rest of the bottle you can enjoy with the meal.

If you want a high-quality wine that isn’t very expensive, I definitely recommend the Chardonnay from Wollersheim Winery. This is a multi-generational, local Wisconsin business, with a huge variety of high-quality, reasonably priced products.

A few months ago, one of the owners invited my sister and I to a private tour of the winery to see how they operate behind the scenes. As someone who wants to know exactly where my food comes from, I was thrilled to learn about the process of wine-making. They grow many of the grapes on-sight and they never add unnecessary ingredients. It’s obvious this family business takes pride in what they do. To see more of our visit, check out Lauren’s blog post on it here!

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