I'm pretty excited to tell you about this recipe.  It's more than solid and I think you should add some mushrooms and arborio rice to your grocery list today.  Make this soon.  This serving is perfect for 2 people, as it comes from the Bride & Groom First and Forever Cookbook.  I doubled the recipe sans mushrooms the other night as well, and enjoyed it again.  Not as much though as when there were mushrooms involved.  Next time I make it I think it would be perfect with some steak, a big salad, and some dinner guests.


I've come across some recipes for risotto that are less than straight forward.  It probably makes for people to be scared of making it at home, and figure it's one of those things they should just rely on getting from a restaurant.  I found this recipe to not only be helpful, but theorapuetic.  It was nice to have Benjamin there to switch off stirring as well. In fact, as he was stirring this perfection, I was able to clean up and not worry about so many dishes post dinner.  Hooray.


Recipe adapted from the cookbook mentioned above...



Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups chicken stock
2 1/3 T olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
8 ounces shitake and cremini mushrooms sliced (discard shitake stems)
1 T chopped garlic
3/4 cup Arborio rice
1/2 cup white wine- (we used a chenin blanc which was too sweet for me to drink, but worked fine here)
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1 T unsalted butter

• To start out, put your stock in a pot and get it nice and hot- not boiling but simmering
• Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat and add the chopped onion-saute for 2 minutes.
• Add the mushrooms (clean them by just taking a damp cloth and rubbing gently any dirt off- don't ever rinse them in water.  That's just bad)  Cook until tender, about 8 minutes.
• Add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes (just don't burn the garlic- also bad)
• Add the rice- stir for 30 seconds
• Add the wine- enjoy the smell, and think about how awesome this is going to be
• Let the liquid absorb- this is where the stir stir stir comes in- you've got to do it- constantly
• When the liquid is absorbed, add 3/4 cup stock until that absorbs, then keep adding stock in 3/4 cup increments.  This process takes some time, but I'm sorry- are you in a rush? 
• When all the stock has absorbed, stir in 1/4 cup cheese, thyme, and butter.  
• Season with salt and pepper and serve right away.  

Enjoy it...and let me know what you think!