recipe: mushroom risotto

after a week of many quick dins, for sunday dinner today i was in the mood for a little something with a lot of hands-on time. decided to make the Gourmet Mushroom Risotto recipe from allrecipes.com, which i've had a few times before and just love. i've tried making it with chicken, and with sundried tomatoes, but it really is good just leaving alone... it's so simple with just a nice subtle mushroomy flavor (i want to say earthy flavor, but that makes me sound like an a-hole) that adding anything else just gets in the way. the original recipe is so good there's really nothing to change (besides adding garlic, of course).

ingredients list (serves 4):

- 6 cups chicken broth (i had homemade broth in stock from when i made beer can chicken... one of the few times i've ever had it available when i needed it)

- 3 tbsp olive oil*, divided
- 1 lb mushrooms (i used baby bellas, white or portobello or combo of all also work)

- 2 shallots, diced

- 3 cloves garlic, minced

- 1.5 cups arborio rice

- 1/2 cup dry white wine

- kosher salt to taste

- fresh ground black pepper to taste

- 3 tbsp finely chopped chives

- 4 tbsp butter

- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

to make: warm broth in a large saucepan until it comes to a gentle boil. in a large skillet, heat 2 tbsp olive oil over medium-high heat. stir in mushrooms and cook until golden & soft, about 4-5 minutes. remove mushrooms to a plate and set aside.

lower skillet heat to medium, add 1 tbsp olive oil, and stir in the shallots and garlic. cook for 1 minute, then add rice and stir unil the rice is covered in oil and most of the oil is absorbed off the skillet (about 2 minutes). pour in wine, stirring rice until the wine is fully absorbed. add 1/2 cup broth to rice, and stir until it is fully absorbed. repeat this until all of the broth is gone, stirring CONSTANTLY. add butter when you add the last 1/2 cup of broth to the rice. this cooking process will take between 30-40 minutes. (the starch of the rice will break down, and it should be bloated beyond belief with chicken broth. it may seem done 20-25 minutes into the process (like regular rice would be), but you want to keep working it until it can't possibly hold any more broth... it's at that point that the creamy goodness comes out.)

remove from heat, and stir in the mushrooms, chives and parmesan, seasoning with salt & pepper to taste.

i have to give this recipe a solid 8 ********. it's so easy (though time consuming), and tastes as good as a restaurant risotto. always a fun din.

* i used Mushroom & Sage flavored olive oil from Saratoga Olive Oil Company... it was so perfect for this. if you are in Saragota, this place is worth checking out. the store is lined in their specialty olive oil & balsamic vinegars... and yes they have dishes of bread every few feet so you can sample every one. we probably tried at least 20 on our impromptu olive oil tasting... SO delish.