Today I went to a Risotto cooking class, it was kind of an interesting experience, especially since I think my main takeaway from the whole thing is that I don’t really like Risotto (which probably means I’m a bad person with low moral values). The class was amazing, I guess I’m the one at fault.
You basically make Risotto by sauteing some onions in olive oil in a pan, then adding the right kind of rice (I’m told Arborio is good). You let this simmer for a couple of minutes, then cover with dry white wine and let this simmer for a bit.
You continuously stir this for about 25 minutes until the rice is cooked, adding liquids as needed (the liquid needs to be hot). The continuous friction from the stirring causes the starch to come off the rice and give the Risotto it’s characteristic consistency.
Cooking like this is something that you have to have a feel for - when do you add the liquid? How much? What temperature should the pan be at? How much seasoning should you add and when?
Good cooks know how to adjust all these dynamically, taste the dish and add the missing bit of spice that can make the difference between a bland unappealing mess, and an amazing zingy dish you’d kill for…
Me, I’m a programmer - Baking is much more appealing to me. You just add the ingredients in exact quantities according to the recipe, set the oven to a certain temperature, pop your thingy in and in x minutes out comes something delicious.
There are of course little adjustments you make along the way, but it’s just basically chemistry…
Chatting with the chef who gave the class, we asked what to do with leftover Risotto. He said you could make balls out of them and fry them up with a little cheese in the center until lightly browned. Now that sounds appealing 
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