Risotto in the microwave is easy to tweak. What flavors do you like?

Risotto is really just a formula. You need a certain ratio of liquid to short-grain rice (aborio, click here), a bit of fat, some heat, and in the old days, lots of stirring. But thanks to the microwave oven, risotto can be easy enough even for a harried weeknight.

Credit for discovering this microwave risotto technique goes to cookbook author Barbara Kafka in Microwave Gourmet. She says the very technology that makes microwaving starchy dishes generally unacceptable is exactly what makes the microwave work so well for risotto.

“Starch absorbs liquid slowly in the microwave oven, and it also absorbs too much,” Kafka writes. “That is exactly what you want the rice to do in a risotto.”

Our recipe for Risotto with Ham and Asparagus is a great basic recipe to tinker with. (Click here for more information about making risotto in the microwave.) You could replace the asparagus with steamed green beans, and in place of ham, why not stir in some crabmeat or poached salmon chunks at the very end? The possibilities are endless. What types of risotto have you enjoyed, either at home or in restaurants?