Risotto for a beginner

I know it is supposed to be easypeasy to make this wonderful Italian dish but I have always been unsuccessful with making risotto. I intend to meet the challenge! With some success the following recipe was quite edible for my first in a long time attempt. This recipe seems to be enough for 4 and as we don't eat huge quantities being relatively small people, when I make it again I will halve the recipe because rechaufféed risotto is not as good as freshly made risotto. If anyone thinks I can improve then please let me know.

I sautéed one large onion and some garlic all chopped very finely in some oil and butter and waited until they were translucent, stirring form time to time. I weighed 250g risotto rice and stirred this in until the rice was coated with the oil and again waited until the grains were translucent. I kept stirring. Then I added 150ml white wine and let it bubble for 5 minutes. I stirred in 500ml vegetable stock in small amounts. As we never use stock cubes, I blended 375g of our very own pre-cooked beetroots into a purée and added water. I again kept stirring.

I added some dry roasted fennel seeds and some fancy mushrooms from a jar. I added some grated parmagiano cheese. One could also add cream! Then I transferred the rice to an oven proof dish, covered it with foil as that dish did not have a lid and baked it in a moderate oven for 15 minutes. It was delicious.