Julio's Delicatessen

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Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

• 1 28-oz can diced tomatoes
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 2 Tb olive oil
• 1 lb Italian sausage, casings removed
• 1  onion, finely chopped
• Salt and pepper
• 1 cup Arborio rice
• ½ cup white wine
• 6 oz baby spinach, roughly chopped
• ½ cup grated parmesan cheese (plus more for garnish)
• 2 Tb butter

60 minutes before you want to eat – Place the tomatoes (with all the liquid) and stock in a small saucepan.  Heat over medium heat until just at a simmer, then reduce heat to low.

50 minutes before you want to eat – In a large pan or pot with plenty of surface area, heat the oil over medium-high heat. (You can easily double this recipe for a group, but make sure you have a pan with plenty of room to stir everything).  When the oil is hot, add the sausage and onion.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cook for 5 or 7 minutes, until sausage is mostly cooked through, fat is rendered, and onions are beginning to soften.  Add the rice and continue cooking for a minute or two, stirring constantly.  Add the wine and continue cooking (and stirring) until it has been absorbed – about a minute.

About 30 minutes before you want to eat, ladle about 2 cups of the hot tomato-stock mixture into the rice.  Continue cooking and stirring until the liquid has been absorbed by the rice (maybe 5 minutes).  Add another ladle-full of the tomato-stock mixture and continue cooking and stirring.  Continue this until the rice is tender – about 25 or 30 minutes in total.  You may not need to use all of the liquid.

When the rice is tender, turn off the heat.  Add the spinach, parmesan, and butter to the rice.  Stir to combine everything, melting the butter and cheese and wilting the spinach.  Serve immediately.