Three Mushroom Risotto

I think one of my favorites things about America is mushrooms. When I first came to the states, I remember having pizza for the first time. I was intrigued, more so than with the cheesy, tomato-y goodness, with the spongy, umbrella shaped black things on top of it. It was love at first bite.

I first had this dish at a friend's, and I knew it was going to become a staple. It combines two of my favorite things, mushrooms and rice....with a healthy dollop of butter. You can use any combinations of mushrooms for this, but I find that strong flavored ones like shittake or dried porcini work really well. The key ingredient is the fresh parsley though. It offsets the richness of the risotto and give you nice burst of flavor when you bite into some.

Ingredients:

1 6oz package shitake mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 8oz package white mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 12oz package baby bella mushrooms, thinly sliced

3 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 cups arborio rice

1.5 quarts chicken broth or stock

1/2 bulb garlic, minced

2 cups of dry white wine

2 cups parsley, finely chopped

1 sprig of thyme

1 cup grated parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper to taste 

1. Wash the mushrooms to remove all dirt.

The more mushrooms, the better!

2. Remove about 1/2 inch of the stem from the shiitake mushrooms. 

Just feel for the tough parts and take them off

3. Slice the mushroom into 1/4 inch slices and then slice the slices, so that you get thin strips

The small slices cook faster and ensure lots of mushrooms in every bite

4. Melt 1 tbsp of butter in a pan over med heat. Brown for 30 secs. Add in the mushrooms and saute until they are just tender. Salt to taste. Save the mushrooms and the water in a separate container. 

It's really hard not to eat these straight

5. In a sauce pan, bring 1.5 quarts of chicken broth up to a simmer. In the meantime, in a large heavy bottomed pan, melt another tbsp of butter and add 2 tbsp of olive oil. Add the garlic and stir fry until just beginning to brown, about 1 min. Then add the rice and the thyme and stir fry until the rice looks translucent, about 3 min.

The rice will go from that solid white, to almost glassy

4. Add in half the white wine. Stir slowly until the wine is absorbed.

5. Add 1 cup of chicken broth. Stir until absorbed. Repeat until the rice is cooked through. Stir in the mushrooms without the water. Add salt to taste.
NOTE: If you run out of broth, and the rice is still not cooked through, add the water in from the mushroom. If it's still not cooked, add in the remaining half of the wine. If still not cooked through....well then you're out of luck. Hope you have some spare broth!


5. About 5 min before taking off the heat, stir in the parsley and parmesan cheese, in that order

6. About 2 min before taking off the heat stir in the last tbsp of butter.

Bon Appetit!