Friday, September 24, 2010

Rosemary Mushroom Risotto

I was determined to get good at risotto, and I'm pretty decent at it now. This is our main recipe:

1 cup mushroom broth
2 cups vegetable broth
3/4 cup water
1/2 tsp crumbled rosemary
1/4 tsp thyme
2 Tbs olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped mushrooms (any kind)
2 Tbs minced shallots (white onion will do fine)
1 cup arborio rice
1/3 cup shredded Parmesan
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 tsp salt, to taste
1/8 tsp pepper

1. In a smallish saucepan, heat broth, water, rosemary and thyme until simmering. Keep on med-low to keep it warm throughout cooking time.
2. When broth is ready, heat oil in 3-quart saucepan on medium. Add the mushrooms and shallots and cook, stirring, until mushrooms soften (a couple of minutes). Add rice and cook, stirring, until rice is coated with oil (a minute or so).
3. Add broth to rice mixture 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until rice has absorbed the liquid. (You should make the next addition of liquid when you can draw a clear path on the bottom of the pot as you scrape through the rice.) This process should take about half an hour.
4. Add parsley, pepper and salt with the last bit of broth and stir in well. Serve topped with parmesan.

A couple of notes: I live at high altitude so I have to use more broth/water. Also, the first couple of broth additions should be closer to a cup--adding broth a little fast in the beginning helps the rice cook. Last, if you taste as you go the risotto will taste really bland until it's almost done because the broth/water is still reducing, so don't worry about adding salt unless it still taste bland at the end.

You can use any mushrooms, obviously. I've done this with baby bellas, shiitakes, and chantarelles and they've all turned out great.