Mushroom Risotto

There's a story behind wanting to try out Risotto and it comes from when I was in Italy last year. It was the day we (my traveling companion, Alyne, and I) were heading from Florence up to Venice to meet our husbands, who we hadn't seen in a month. Since they didn't get in until 9pm and it only takes about 2 hours to get from Florence to Venice, we had decided to take a day trip out to a little town called San Gimignano (you can read my blog post about it here). We left our bags at the bag drop in the train station and then bussed out to the town.

I had brought my computer in my day bag because you just never know, so I was lugging around that and my camera, as well as a large water bottle since it was over 90* that day. We saw what we wanted in the town and then searched for a place to eat before heading back. Alyne had been wanting mushroom Risotto and I was game since I had never had it before (and hey, Italian dish in Italy!), so we asked a few people for restaurant recommendations and most of them pointed us to the same place but said that, "it was more of a dinner dish but if anyone had it, it would be that place", so there was still no guarantee. 

Once we walked around for a little bit to find the place (everyone gave slightly different directions) we found it, but it was closed. We asked a couple more people and came up with the same results. It was sad because by that time it had been about an hour of walking around in the heat hungry. I really didn't care where we ate that day, or that we trudged around fruitlessly on a unicorn quest, because all I cared about was getting to Venice that night and seeing Dillon.

BUT NOW, I've tried this Mushroom Risotto recipe and I would have walked 2 more hours if I knew I could have eaten this Risotto!! Sadly, there was no guarantee that day, but now I can make it every day if I want! One of the best parts of this is that Dillon (who will eat anything but has a list of 5 "meh" foods and mushrooms are on that list) requested that I make it again when he was only halfway through eating it, it was so good! 

SO, do yourself a favor and try this out. It's a little labor intensive, but totally worth it, just like our trek would have been. 

Mushroom Risotto

Adapted from afamilyfeast.com

1 8-ounce package baby bella mushrooms, sliced

1 tablespoon butter

sprinkle of salt

3 tablespoons butter

½ large onion, finely diced 

1 clove garlic, minced

1 cup Arborio rice

⅓ cup red cooking wine

3 cups chicken stock

¾ cup grated parmesan

Salt and pepper to taste

In a medium sauté pan, melt the 1 Tbsp butter. Add the sliced mushrooms and sauté over medium-high heat until lightly browned, stirring frequently. Once the mushrooms are lightly browned sprinkle with just a touch of salt and sauté for another minute. Remove the mushrooms from the heat and set aside.

To prepare the rice, in a medium saucepan, melt the 3 Tbsp butter over medium-high heat. Add the diced onion and sauté for 5 minutes, or until the onions are translucent, then add the minced garlic and cook for one minute. Add the Arborio rice, stirring frequently for 2-3 minutes until the rice is just starting to turn lightly golden.

While the rice is cooking, heat up the chicken stock either on the stove or the microwave.

Pour the cooking wine into the rice and allow the liquid to boil and be absorbed into the rice. Then pour in ¼ cup of chicken stock to the rice, stirring constantly. (If necessary, adjust the heat--you want a medium simmer.) Add more stock ¼ cup at a time, adding more just as most of the liquid is absorbed.

Cook the rice and stock together in this manner for approximately 25 minutes, or until the rice is tender but not mushy. Turn the heat off when there is still some liquid remaining in the rice and stir in the parmesan cheese and mushrooms, and salt and pepper to taste. 

Remove from heat and cover, let sit for 5 minutes before serving. Serves 4.