Mushroom Risotto

I cooked mushroom risotto for a group of five friends on Saturday and I had forgotten how wonderful a dish it is. A number of people asked me for the recipe afterwards so I thought I really should add it here. It is one of those dishes people tend to put off because you do have to pay some attention during the cooking process but believe me it is real easy dish to make and well worth the effort! Prep time is 10 min; Cooking time 20 mins.

Ingredients

• 6 cups chicken or vegetable broth, divided
• 1 to 2 pounds mushrooms
• 2-3 shallots, roughly diced
• 1½ cup risotto rice
• ½ cup dry white wine or cooking wine
• 3 tablespoons parsley of your choice or chives, chopped
• ½ teaspoon salt, more or less to taste
• black pepper to taste
• 4 tablespoons butter
• ¼ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, more or less to taste

Instructions

1. In a saucepan, warm the broth over medium heat.
2. Heat a large cast-iron or non-stick skillet to high heat. Add mushrooms to dry skillet and stir as the mushrooms release their juices. Turn heat to medium-high and continue to stir until juice starts to be absorbed and mushrooms are browned. Sprinkle with a dash of salt and continue cooking about 1 minute. Remove mushrooms and set aside.
3. Reduce heat to medium and add 1 tablespoon olive oil.
4. Stir in the shallots. Cook about 1 minute or until shallots begin to soften. Add rice, stirring to coat with oil, about 2 minutes.
5. Pour in the wine, stirring constantly until the wine is fully absorbed.
6. Return heat to medium-high and using a mug or measuring cup add between ½-3/4 cup broth to the rice (I added ¾ cup), and stir until the broth is absorbed. Continue adding the hot broth one scoopful at a time, stirring continuously, making sure the liquid becomes absorbed before adding more broth. When you've got almost all the broth added, begin turning the heat down to medium if necessary. After about 15 to 20 minutes, the rice will be al dente.
7. Turn off the heat and stir in the mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper. (At this point, if you want a vegan meal, this is done and perfectly tasty.)
8. Add the butter, parsley or chives and parmesan (or let your diners add the cheese themselves) .