Lamb Stew Risotto

We had some leftover lamb stew from the past two day's posts. We didn't really feel like eating that salty dish again, and knew we had to do something to improve it. So we decided to transform it into something else - a favorite dish of ours that would definitely benefit from the salty broth. Risotto! There was certainly a lot of liquid left in the stew, and it was easily separated from the remaining meat and vegetables, which become a small accompaniment and extra flavor to the risotto dish. Just as sometimes other ingredients are cooked with risotto to add flavor and texture - onion, butternut squash, meats, etc., this was already cooked so we simply reheated it and served it alongside the risotto. Now for the risotto. Risotto is a creamy rice dish that is based off rice and a tasty broth. Water won't work for this dish, the rice really benefits from the addition of some flavor. Chicken stock is usually our go-to for this, but since we had this stew on hand, it was time to shake it up a bit. The broth from the stew was the perfect choice for risotto - it was already loaded with flavor and very salty, it had a nice bacon flavor and already contained wine - another staple ingredient for risotto. After separating the broth form the other ingredients, the broth was brought to a boil, as hot liquid is best when cooking risotto. Then the risotto was prepared as usual. Since the dish was still quite salty, a dash of apple cider vinegar was added - which really did succeed in cutting the salt and added an interesting new depth of flavor. Of course it is a lot of work to go through making this stew just to get a nice risotto the next day!