Mushroom Risotto (Serves 8)

Risotto is a creamy Italian rice dish. I love the feeling I get when I make, eat and serve Risotto; it’s a sexy dish. It feels fancy and upscale the idea of turning plain old rice into something creamy and luxurious is so inviting. You have to monitor this dish and spend time with it all while adding Love.

Ingredients:

2 Quarts (32oz) Vegetable Broth

2 ½ Tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil, divided

1 large white Onion, chopped

3 Garlic Cloves, chopped

1 Tsp Salt, divided

1 Tsp Fresh Cracked Pepper, divided

1 8oz Pkg Button Mushrooms, (½ Chopped, ½ Sliced)

2 Portabella Mushrooms, sliced

3 Tbsp Earth Balance Butter, divided

2 ½ Cups Arborio Rice (1-16oz pkg)

½ Cup White Wine

Directions:

-Heat Broth over medium-low in saucepan to keep warm.

-Heat 2 Tbsp Olive Oil over medium and sauté Onions, after about 5 mins. add Garlic, ½ Tsp Salt and ½ Tsp Pepper and sauté for another minute. Remove from pan and set aside.

-To the same pan add ½ of the Button Mushrooms (Sliced), sauté for about 5 mins. until golden. Remove from pan and set aside.

-Add the remaining ½ of Button Mushrooms (Chopped) plus ½ Tbsp Olive oil and sauté for about 3 mins. Remove from pan and set aside.

-Back to pan add Portabella mushrooms and sauté for about 2 mins. – The pan will essentially be dry at this point. Add ½ Tbsp Earth Balance and sauté for another 2 mins. Remove from pan and set aside.

-Back to pan add ½ of the Onion/Garlic mixture plus ½ Tbsp Earth Balance over medium. Add Rice and stir until coated and onion/garlic/earth balance have been incorporated and rice toasts up a bit.

-Add White Wine and cook until liquid has been absorbed/evaporated about a minute.

-To rice mixture add 1 cup of Broth at a time: Stir in 1 cup of broth into rice mixture for about 3 mins. until liquid has absorbed, stirring occasionally. – I do this about 3 times over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and continue adding broth 1 cup at a time stirring occasionally for about 4-6 mins. each time until liquid has absorbed. I continue adding 1 cup at a time for about 5 cycles before add remaining broth in the end.

-Once all broth has been incorporated into rice, rice should be creamy. Add remaining onion and mushroom mixture plus ½ Tsp Salt and ½ Tsp Pepper before serving. Enjoy!