As many of you know, Land O’ Lakes and I have been butter buds for the last several years, and it’s been an incredibly simpatico (considering butter is my life) and super-fun, and tremendously tasty partnership.
Part of this is that I occasionally get to try new products before they’re released!
Aside from their regular butter, which I declare perfect, this has to be my favorite one yet. It’s European Style Super Premium Butter…and in a word, it is an absolute treat. It has higher milkfat than regular butter, which makes for a slightly different tasting experience—it’s extra-creamy and flavorful. The first time I tried it, I smeared it on a saltine cracker…and my, oh my, did I enjoy every single bite.
I mean bites.
(I went through several saltines that day!)
When it came to cooking with the new buttah for the first time, I knew I wanted to make something super special. I had just made a batch of chocolate chunk cookies with browned butter in the dough, and that’s when I had the idea for this recipe.
First, brown the butter: Put a stick of the European butter into a large skillet over medium heat. (I used nonstick because it works really well when it comes to browning butter.)
Let it melt completely, then gently swirl it around in the pan a bit and let it continue to heat.
Slowly but surely (within a minute or so), a foam will form on top and you will start to see a hint of golden color developing. Keep swirling/moving the butter in the pan gently…
Until you can see that the butter under the foam has turned a nice deep golden color. Don’t let it go too long, as it can burn quickly! But definitely give it a chance to brown, because that’s when the nice, nutty flavor happens.
Pour half of the butter into a bowl or ramekin and set aside. Return the same skillet to the stove over medium heat. (Don’t clean the pan or you’ll regret it the rest of your life!)
Throw in some Brussels sprouts. These are trimmed and halved; you can do this yourself, or you can find them already prepared in some supermarkets!
Immediately toss them around in the pan and start the cooking process. You’ll see the browned butter that was left in the pan, because it will stick to the sprouts.
Heaven.
Cook the sprouts in the pan, stirring occasionally, until they’re slightly tender, about 8 minutes. Then pour them on a plate and set them aside.
Note that you will probably be tempted to snack on about twelve of the sprouts during the rest of the recipe. This is normal.
Brussels sprouts cooked in browned butter. Is there anything better in the world?
Return the same pan to the stove. Add some onions, garlic and 1 tablespoon of the browned butter. Stir them and cook them for a couple of minutes, until they start to soften.
Then pour in the Arborio rice…
And stir it around to combine it with the onions and garlic.
Now it’s time to start adding broth! If you’ve made risotto, you know full well that it is a gradual process that can’t be rushed. And if you’ve eaten risotto…you know that in the end, it’s totally worth it! Add a cup of warmed broth.
And stir it gently as the rice absorbs the broth, which takes around 2 to 3 minutes. Once you can’t see any more liquid in the pan…
Add another cup of broth!
Stir it until it’s absorbed, then repeat the pattern of adding broth, stirring until it’s absorbed, and so on.
Within 20 to 25 minutes or so, most all of the broth will be absorbed into the rice and the pan will look like a miracle.
But just you wait ‘enry ‘iggins!
Stir in the final addition of broth…
Then add whatever fresh herbs you like. I had fresh thyme, so I stripped off the leaves and threw them into the pan….
And stirred them in. Delicious, yes?
But wait! There’s still more!
The Brussels sprouts go in now…
Along with the rest of the browned butter.
Yes. The rest of the browned butter! Adding it after the risotto’s all done really makes its flavor stand out.
And why not? A little Parmesan wouldn’t hurt.
Stir it around…and dinner is served!
This was utterly, magnificently, unbelievably delicious. I gobbled down every bite and had it for lunch the next day. A true celebration of everything that’s marvelous about butter. And the perfect way to break in my new butter friend!
Note: I have partnered with Land O’Lakes for an exclusive endorsem*nt of Land O Lakes® Butter. This blog post is sponsored by Land O’Lakes.
