Risotto is one of my go-to meals when I just don’t know what I want for dinner. It’s quick, it’s easy, and endlessly customizable.
At it’s very basic level, it’s merely a cup of rice, a cup of wine, and 4 cups of broth . From there, the possibilities are endless. I know, because I rarely make the same risotto twice.
My favorite risotto rice is Carnaroli. It’s much more forgiving that Arborio in that it is both starchy and creamy. but less likely to overcook like arborio can. It maintains that toothsomeness that good risotto has.
The thought process behind Mushroom Risotto started with a bit of an impulse shopping trip to Trader Joe’s. I picked up a bit of produce – including doe mushrooms – and then grabbed a couple of cartons of their seasonal Portobello Mushroom soup.
In getting ready to make the risotto, I realized the soup was unnecessary. And I thought beef broth instead of the usual chicken or vegetable broth would work. Beef broth led to red wine instead of white. During one of our Costco runs, we had picked up a couple bottles of an inexpensive Kirkland brand Malbec from Argentina. We had never had it before and it was purchased mainly for cooking – we don’t drink a lot of wine at home.
The surprise was it’s quite a nice drinking wine!
Mushroom Risotto
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 8 oz mushrooms, chopped
- 1 cup risotto rice – I used carnaroli
- 1 cup red wine
- 4 cups hot beef broth
- 1 handful grated pecorini romano cheese
- 2 tbsp butter
- salt and pepper, to taste
Sauté onion, garlic in butter and olive oil. Add rice and cook about 1 minute. Add mushrooms.
Add wine and cook, stirring often, until it is absorbed.
Begin to add broth by the ladle, stirring continually. Continue adding ladles of broth as the last one is absorbed, until rice is just tender.
At this point, stir in cheese, then stir in butter.
Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper, as desired.
Not the greatest picture, but the risotto was awesome!
And there’s leftovers for lunch!