Tonight I made my husband mushroom risotto.  It was very delish!  Of course, I changed a couple of things.  What can I say? I like to use ingredients that I already have. I used 2 cups of beef broth and 6 cups of chicken broth.  There was already an open container of beef broth in the fridge so why not?  Also, I misread the directions and only got 8oz of mushrooms instead of 1lb, and I didn’t get the dried mushrooms.  I know they would have been fabulous in the risotto, though.

The mushroom risotto recipe I used was adapted from Tyler Florence into a ‘Healthy & Delicious’ recipe.

Mushroom Risotto

- makes 4 to 6 servings -
Adapted from Tyler Florence.

Ingredients

8 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1-1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 medium onion, diced and divided
2 garlic cloves, minced and divided
1lb mushrooms
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoons dried thyme, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon butter
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups Arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
2/3 cup fresh Parmesan cheese, grated

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan, heat the chicken broth on medium heat and keep warm.

2. In a large skillet, heat 1/2 tablespoon of oil over medium heat and add 1/2 of the diced onion and 1/2 of the minced garlic and sauté for about 5 minutes or until they are soft and translucent. Add the butter, mushrooms and herbs and saute until the mushrooms are browned and almost completely cooked through. Season with salt and pepper.  Let cook for another 2 to 3 minutes. Season again with salt and pepper and set to the side.

4. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil over medium heat and sauté the left over onion and garlic in a large Dutch oven until they are soft and translucent.

Add the rice and stir until each grain has been coated with oil and is a little translucent. Add the wine and cook until it is almost completely absorbed.

5. Add 1 cup of the broth that has been keeping warm  into the rice and cook until it’s all absorbed.  Stir often.  Repeat this step until rice is tender.  It should take about 25 to 40 minutes.

6. When the rice is tender, stir in mushroom mix, stir in cheese and continue cooking until melted.