Mushroom Risotto

It’s perfect that I made this entree on #MeatlessMonday which I have been wanting to do for a while. If you aren’t aware, meatless Monday is something I found on Twitter that is a trend since 2003 to get people to cut meat from their diet one day a week and see that vegetarian eatin’ ain’t all that bad and actually good for you! 

I have never made Risotto before or cooked Arborio rice but after reading the recipe, it seemed easy enough. I must confess I used canned mushrooms because my fresh ones went bad before I could use them. (sad day) Honestly the flavor was still there. I drained and cooked them in the pan for a bit to rid more of the water and let them brown a bit.

I didn’t have shallots but I did cut fresh chives from my flower garden (thank you previous owner for leaving those for me!) and used a small amount of sweet onion.

I used vegetable boullion stock to make the risotto but I’m sure chicken would work just as well. I had a local wine from Staller Estates Winery in Delavan/Whitewater that was used to cook the rice and drink with the meal. I highly recommend the Horizon Cuvée for this recipe. It’s my second favorite, Estate Blanc is number one and is divine!

Ok – back to the risotto. It takes some time to add a little bit of the stock to the rice and wait for it to absorb and repeat until the stock is all gone but it’s completely worth it. The flavor really makes the risotto flavorful.

I added some peas for additional flavor. The bag of peas exploded on me when I went to open it and my kitchen was polka-dotted green! Luckily I could salvage enough to use in the risotto.

Then it was time to add the butter and cheese. I didn’t have fresh Parmesan so I used my pre-grated container that is usually exclusive for my popcorn snacks. But I decided I could spare some for this recipe.

Regardless of my frugal product choices (canned mushrooms, pre-grated parmesan and sweet onion) it was absolutely fabulous and I will make this again and again.

Please share your risotto recipes with me or good places in southeastern Wisconsin to try it.