Have you not heard? Okay, maybe I made this one up.  Tomorrow is Haymarket day, though, so it’s leftovers tonight.  Don’t tell the family; they hate leftovers.  They have to be disguised. The kids are happy with noodle bowls.  Not Grumpy, he wants real food.  For Grumpy, I will  prepare Risotto  de Avanzi!  Fancy, huh? It’s Italian for risotto of leftovers. Awesome!

This is one of my favorite dishes to make in a hurry, and for getting rid of leftovers.  Two good things! It tastes good, and you can put almost anything into this one.  Here’s a look at what I found:Clockwise from top: chicken, rice,cream,broth,about 1/2 cup each frozen peas and spinach, butter, cheese, leeks and wine.  Now, I may not always have fresh things to use up.  Last week I had leeks, so I chopped the leftovers and froze them.  The cream – without this I could use evaporated milk, sour cream or thickened milk.Vegetables can be whatever you want.  I also have some squash that didn’t make the photo shoot (here it is in the microwave).  For rice, my favorite is arborio.  Okay- that’s not true! My favorite is any rice that’s leftover (already cooked). That seriously cuts down on cooking time and the fam can’t tell the difference! Tonight I have no rice leftover, so I start by sauteing the leeks until soft. If you don’t have leeks, you can use onions or garlic.  Or both.  Whatever you like.  Then I add the rice and some wine.  What kind? Well, being a connoisseur and all, I drink white wine from a box. No, I’m not kidding.  It’s in the fridge most of the time, and it tastes just fine.  Oh- where do I get it…well this one came from Walmart! It’s called Oak Leaf chardonnay.  And it’s way better than 2 buck chuck. So that glass of wine in the photo; about half of it went into the rice and leeks.  After the wine cooks down I start adding the broth. I actually used about a quart of broth. If you use precooked rice just cut way back on the broth. And the wine (if you want).  After all the broth is mostly cooked in it’s time to add the rest of the ingredients: There’s some squash, peas, spinach and chicken. There’s a healthy splash of cream in the center. Mix that it, then stir in some grated cheese. I used Parmesan.  I think.  (It smells like it anyway). After you’ve stirred it all in and heated it enough that it’s all cooked (or reheated all through) you can dish it up, add some more grated cheese and a good dose of black pepper.  This is a big hit with Grumpy.  He’s already in a pretty good mood, though. Know why? I also made a pie.  I’ll tell you more about that pie tomorrow!