My granddmother and mom always make a mushroom risotto; it is one of their staples. This is the recipe from a cookbook called RIsotto by Clive Tring. It is very similar to my family's recipe but has more vegetables in it. And for some reason I think they may use white wine, but I really don't know for sure about that - I should probably check that out...
Ingredients:
4 cups vegetable or chicken stock (I used my chicken stock from my slowcooker recipe)
2 tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil
1 tbsp butter
generous 1 cup risotto rice
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 red (or green) bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 pkg (225g) mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
Directions:
1. Bring the stock to a boil in a pan, then reduce the heat and keep simmering gently over low heat while you are cooking the risotto.
2. Heat the oil and butter in a deep pan. (A deep pan is better than a wide pan because the rice might be spread out too thin and burn easily.) Add the rice and cook over low heat, stirring constantly for 2-3 minutes, until the grains are thoroughly coated in oil and translucent.
3. Add the garlic, onion, celery and bell pepper and cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook for 3-4 minutes. Stir in the oregano.
4. Gradually add the hot stock, a ladleful at a time. Stir constantly and add more liquid as the rice absorbs each addition. Increase the heat to medium so that the liquid bubbles. Cook for 20 minutes, or until all the liquid is absorbed and the rice is creamy (you may not need all the stock, and sometimes you may need more liquid). Season with salt and pepper.
5. Remove the risotto from the heat and stir in another tablespoon of butter and half of the Parmesan until it melts. Transfer the risotto to plates and top with the remaining cheese.
Notes: The risotto turned out really nice - all that time sitting beside it, stirring and making sure it wasn't over or under cooked was totally worth it in the end. For my first time, it turned out really well and I will definitely be making risotto again (I really do love it so much!). The key is the amount of liquid - the rice has to be fully cooked. If you don't put enough, the rice won't be fully cooked and can be quite hard. If you put too much, the rice will turn mushy and soggy. This time I did not use all 4 cups of stock; I probably had at least a ladleful left over.
And of course I forgot to take a picture of my dinner until I was halfway through my bowl of risotto! So the picture below is okay.
