Spicy Green Risotto

This is a work in progress because I did not like this very much, but Andrew claims he did and I also think it has potential with some changes.  It's a little more interesting if you don't feel like plain risotto, and it's pretty easy if you have half an hour to be stirring.  We ate it with sriracha brussels but I think it would be good on its own as well

Ingredients:
2 Tb ghee or butter
2 Tb oil
2 shallots (I think next time I'll go with onions)
3 thai chilis
1 cup arborio rice
2 3/4 cups chicken  broth
1/2 cup white wine (sake would probably be good but I don't have any)
Kale (see Note #1)
4 sketchy Chinese sausages (see Note #2)
1 1/2 cups of sliced mushrooms (I used white because I had some to get rid of, but I think a more flavorful mushroom would add a lot)

Chop up the sausages and mushrooms, and dice one of the chilis.  Set out a pan with some oil in it to saute them.

For the actual rice, you are basically following the usual risotto instructions with some additions at the beginning and end)

Heat the ghee or butter and 2Tb oil in a large pot / pan.  Dice the shallots and 2 of the chilis.  Saute the shallots and chilis for a few minutes until the shallots translucent.  Add the rice and stir for another minute.

Add a cup of chicken broth, stirring over low heat until it is all absorbed.  Add a second cup of chicken broth to the risotto and stir until absorbed.  Add the remaining 3/4 cups and repeat.  Somewhere in here, turn on the heat over your other pan and saute the chilis for a minute, then add the sausage and mushrooms.

Meanwhile, puree the white wine and your greens in a food processor.  Add it to the risotto after all the chicken broth has been absorbed, stirring for a few minutes until the risotto is creamy and the wine has been absorbed / evaporated.  Dump the sausage and mushrooms on top and mix in.

Serve!


IMPORTANT NOTES:

Note #1:  Next time I will not use kale, it was not good.  I think I'll go with a more bitter green like maybe some collard greens -- open to suggestions.  Kale was just too....green.  Also, I used too much.  I think you should use maybe one-third to half a bunch and reduce the amount of white wine so that the puree is liquid enough to be poured and mix in well/evenly with the risotto -- that's the only reason you need any liquid to go with the greens at all.

Note #2:  I am still alive but these sausages were sketchy.  We got them in Chinatown at a store that had a very bad fish smell.  They are clearly labeled as uncooked but they were sitting out, un-refrigerated, by the butcher counter.  Maybe I was biased because they were in front of the pig feet and chicken claws -- but I don't think that's right.  They also had a very weird smell when I opened the package.

Importantly, the sausages also were not spicy and I don't think they added very much to the dish, so I think next time I'll probably go with some other kind of meat that I've marinated in some asian spices, perhaps.  There was some "thai-style" sausage at Whole Foods, but that didn't look too spicy either, and it was pre-cooked, so I don't think the flavor would get into the mushrooms/rice quite as well.  Or, maybe I'll just forego the meat and stick with the mushrooms only.