I love Italian food. Especially when it has a kick to it. I don’t think anything hits the spot on a snowy day quite like a hearty bowl of spicy pasta. This particular recipe is an adaptation of a recipe I came across online not too long ago. I’ve never actually cooked with tequila before and now I’m sold on it! I’ve had this bottle of Don Julio lying around the apartment for almost a year now and since no one really likes drinking tequila, I figured I’d try to cook with it (that, and I was out of white wine). I think it complemented the spicy peppers so well and in fact brought out the bold flavors of fennel in the sausage. I hope you enjoy this one as much as my family and I did! 

What you’ll need..

• 1 Cup arborio rice 
• 3 Chicken sausages (I used Trader Joe’s spicy Italian and removed the casings) 
• 1 28 oz. Can of crushed tomatoes 
• 3 cups Water
• 1/2 large white onion chopped
• 4-5 cloves of garlic chopped
• 3-4 tsp Calabrian chili peppers (I used the ones in a jar that you get at William Sonoma)
• Parmesan Cheese
• Lots of Basil 
• Olive Oil
• Salt
• Italian Seasoning

Put it all Together.. 

• Start by mixing the crushed tomatoes and water in a pot and bring it to a simmer. Add some salt and Italian seasoning.
• In a separate pot, sauté the onion and garlic in olive oil. Once the onion and garlic have browned a bit, add in the sausage (make sure casing is removed and crumble it into the mixture). Constantly stir the mixture ensuring that the Sausage is well coated. Add salt, Italian seasoning, and Calabrian chili peppers to the mixture and let everything cook together for 1-2 minutes
• Add in the uncooked rice and mix well so that the rice is nicely coated and allow to sauté with the other spices for 2-3 minutes.
• Add one cup of the tomato mixture to the sausage and rice mixture and mix well. Add in a generous splash of tequila and allow all the liquid to boil so that it is absorbed by the rice.
• Continue to add a cup at a time of the tomato mixture to the rice. The idea is for the rice to cook in the tomato mixture
• Make sure you taste the rice periodically to check if it is cooked or not (This recipe definitely requires a lot of patience) *Please note, all your tomato sauce may not be used by the end of it*
• Once rice is perfectly cooked, stir in Parmesan cheese (add as much or as little as you’d like)
• Finally, top the risotto with lots and lots of basil, serve, and enjoy 🙂