MUSHROOM RISOTTO

You can call risotto a magic dish if you'd like... taking a common, cheap ingredient like rice and turning it into something delectably creamy and satisfying. It's fantastic as a side dish and impressive enough to serve as a main dish. The hearty, earthiness of the mushrooms hold up well to the smooth, velvety texture of the risotto and the slow cooking ensures infusion of flavor to every piece of rice. This dish may not be prepared in an instant, but most things worth waiting for aren't either!

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/4 cups chopped baby portabella mushrooms
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup yellow onion, small diced
2 cups arborio rice or other white, short grained rice
1/2 cup white wine
6-7 cups chicken broth, kept warm over low heat on a back burner
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
extra virgin olive oil

DIRECTIONS:
-in a large pot, cook mushrooms over medium high heat in 1 tbs olive oil
-after about 10 minutes, or when mushrooms start to brown, season with a pinch of salt, remove mushrooms from heat, and place in a bowl to the side
-in the same pot, add garlic and onion into 1 tbs olive oil, and cook for about 3 minutes on medium low heat
-add the rice, and cook for an additional 1 minute
-reduce heat to low, and stir in wine
-continually stir until wine is absorbed
-gradually stir in warm chicken broth, about 1 cup at a time, cooking and stirring continually until liquid is absorbed, before adding the next 1 cup
-once broth is gone and/or the rice is tender to the bite and creamy looking, remove from heat
-stir in mushrooms and cheese, add a sprinkle of salt and pepper to taste
-place in a serving dish, and enjoy!

serves 4-6

SHOUT OUTS:
I'm a lover of risotto, and this recipe came about when i discovered a new love for mushrooms.

TIPS and ADAPTATIONS:
-Try mixing in bite size pieces of cooked veggies like asparagus, zucchini, spinach, and peas into the risotto.
-You don't have to be glued to the stove, stirring every second of the dish's preparation, but do stir it often.
-You can always skip the wine and use water or broth instead.
-Hold off on the cheese to make the risotto dairy free and try substituting the flavor with something like a few cloves of roasted garlic or a tablespoon or two of fresh herbs and an extra pinch of salt.
-Leftovers? Make a risotto cake! shape rice into a patty, add a tsp of olive oil to a pan, and cook over medium heat on each side until it starts to brown. Delicious with an over-easy or sunny-side-up egg and some spinach or arugula on top!

LESSONS LEARNED:
Creamy rice with no cream?? How??
-short grained rice contains more starch than long grain rices
-toasting the risotto seals in the starches of the rice
-adding broth slowly to the rice and stirring constantly creates friction and allows the rice to slowly release its starches, thus becoming creamy
Why does the broth have to be warm?
-adding cool liquid to the rice would stop the cooking process, thus making the rice take longer to cook since it needs to constantly keep warming up!