risotto w/ cabbage and fennel sausage

The Bold Italic had a great feature on local chefs, each including a hand-written recipe. This one caught my eye. It's from the people behind Delfina, Pizzeria Delfina, and Locanda--all spectacular restaurants.

Ingredients

1 small onion chopped
extra virgin olive oil
2 spicy fennel sausage
1/2 cup plum tomatoes
1 cup white wine
3 cups green cabbage, shredded
6 cups chicken stock
4 tbsp butter
1/2 cup parmigiano reggiano, grated
2 cups carnaroli rice
salt to taste
pepper to taste

Directions

Bring stock to a boil. Keep at a very slow simmer.

Remove sausage from casing. Brown in olive oil in a heavy bottom pot. Remove from pot and drain.

Put fat back into pot. Saute all but 1/2 cup of cabbage in fat until soft. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from pot and drain.

Add fat back to the pot. Sweat onions slowly until soft and translucent. Add rice. Turn up the heat and saute rice 3 minutes. Add tomatoes and cook an additional 3 minutes. Add wine and reduce heat to a simmer. Stir constantly until the wine is absorbed. Begin ladling in stock, stirring constantly. Add sausage and cooked cabbage while stirring. Keep adjusting the heat to maintain a constant simmer. Season as you go.

When rice is 3/4 cooked, add the remaining cabbage. Continue stirring and adding stock until risotto is just cooked. Stir in button and cheese.

Cover, turn off heat, and allow to rest 5 minutes. Season to taste.