Rune Factory 4: Cheese Risotto

Your memory is gone. The furthest back you can remember is when you landed on that dragon. Where did you fall from? Why did you land on a dragon? Why are all the people of this small village so nice? After falling you were suddenly asked to act as royalty and asset the town. But just because you are “royalty” doesn’t mean you can get away with doing no chores around the town. It seems they want you to tend the farm and help the village with any major issues that occur. It also seems there has been trouble in the forest just south of the city. A swarm of butterflies are trying to lead you to something. Following the butterflies seems like the only option at this point. As you venture forth the forest begins to darken. When you reach the end of the forest a large butterfly-like monster swoops down at you. The forest behind you closes up and you are forced to defend yourself against the creature!

The Rune Factory series takes everything I love about Harvest Moon and adds a dungeon adventuring mechanic. On top of having to take care of my farm, find the love of my life and make the towns people happy – I have to defend the small city of Selphia from impending evils. As I’ve mentioned in my Harvest Moon post there is something really relaxing about the farm simulation gameplay. The repetitiveness of the farming can get a bit dull after long periods of playing. The combat and adventuring in the Rune Factory series breaks up that repetition! Some days I just want to farm, while on other days I just want to get through the story and adventure in some caves. I really enjoy this series!

While growing your own vegetables you are also able to do a lot of cooking. The amount of different cooking recipes in this game was impressive! I haven’t discovered all the recipes yet – there are a lot. Today we are going to take a look at a basic cheese risotto. I cook this recipe when I know I want a very cheese intense side dish. Now don’t get scared by the word risotto, it is not that difficult. The hardest part is how much attention is required. Once you start adding the liquid to the risotto you will be there for a while stirring it in. I know the first time I made a risotto I stood next to the pan the entire time worried it would mess up. As I’ve cooked this more and more I’ve learned that I can give it some space but still stirring often.

Required Equipment: cutting board, knife, pan, pot, spoon
Ingredients:
– 3 ½ cups chicken broth (or vegetable if you want to keep this vegetarian, I prefer the flavor of the chicken), warmed up
– 3 tbsp butter
– ½ large onion, diced
– 1 ½ cup Arborio rice
– ½ cup white wine
– 5 oz. cheddar, shredded
– 3 oz fontina, shredded
– 2 oz parmesan, shredded
– salt and pepper to taste

Begin by warming up the broth in a small pot; you want to bring it to a light boil. Heat up a pan over medium-high heat and place the butter. Once the butter is mostly melted add the onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes.

Mix in the Arborio rice and cook for about 2-3 minutes. Add the wine and stir in well.

Cook until all of the wine has been absorbed by the rice. Next, begin to add the chicken broth in ½ cup increments. You want the rice to absorb the broth and add more as it does. During this time you are going to be stirring the rice constantly as this will help it absorb the broth.

You are going to repeat the broth adding step until the rice has absorbed it all and is cooked. The whole process takes about 25-30 minutes.

After the rice has cooked remove the pan from the heat and mix in the cheese (depending on how cheesy you want it I would recommend adding the cheese slowly until it reaches the level you would like). Finally add salt and pepper to taste.