MUSHROOM RISOTTO

Ingredients:

6 cups vegetable stock

3 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil

1 pound sliced Crimini (Brown) Mushrooms, diced

1 medium onion, diced

1 1/2 cups Arborio rice

1/2 cup dry white wine (or not, if you don't have any open)

4 tablespoons butter (Vegan butter is always fine)

1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan Cheese (or not, if you are making it vegan)

Salt and pepper to taste

The way I make risotto takes 3 pots... one for the veggies, one for the stock, and one for the rice.

Directions:

• Warm the vegetable stock in a saucepan over low heat.
• Warm 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in the mushrooms and onions and cook until soft (about 3 minutes). 
• Add rice and 1 tablespoon oil to the 3rd pot and coat the rice with oil. When the rice starts to turn a pale, golden yellow, add the wine, stirring constantly until the wine is fully absorbed.
• Add 1/2 cup of the warm stock to the rice and stir until the stock is absorbed. Add another 1/2 cup of stock and stir until the liquid is absorbed. Continue adding 1/2 cup broth to the rice and stir constantly until the stock is absorbed. Repeat this action until the rice is al dente (about 15 to 20 minutes).
• Remove the rice from the heat and stir in the mushrooms and onions, butter, and Parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper (to taste).

You can add any cooked vegetables at the same time that I said to add the mushrooms... asparagus, peas, peppers, sundried tomatoes, squash...

Making risotto takes a little patience, you have to stand there for 20 minutes stirring constantly adding more stock... my friend, Julie, had no patience for this... even with a glass of wine. She kept walking away when I was teaching her how to cook it... I had to keep making her come back and keep stirring.

She did finish it and was very proud. This is risotto with English peas and yellow bell peppers, topped with grilled chicken-apple sausages.