Mushroom Risotto

Dinner was off the rails last night. First of all, I hadn’t planned out what we were going to have over the weekend–that’s always an error of judgment. So, I had to figure something out and then fill in the blanks by shopping. It’s been awhile since we had risotto, so that’s what I picked. I wanted to use Gorgonzola to enrich the dish and either roasted or sauteed mushrooms to top it. But time kept running out, and Acme has no Gorgonzola or risotto rice, so I then needed to tack on a trip to Green Aisle, where I also picked up those lovely salad greens. By the time I got back, Dan was headed home from work, I was already starving, the dishwasher had to be emptied, and the kitchen was a mess. I thought to myself, this is how a lot of people feel about making dinner every night. Like it’s a hassle they’d rather not deal with. 

My first time saving step was using the food processor to make quick work of the mushrooms, onions, and shallots.  At that point I could take a deep breath. I actually decided against blogging about it at that moment because I thought the final product would be irredeemably ugly, but it doesn’t look so bad. You can use this method for risotto of every stripe–everything but the rice, fat, and liquid is optional.

Mushroom Risotto

Serves 4

6 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons olive oil
8 ounces cremini mushrooms, minced
1/2 onion, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
2 tablespoons butter
2 small shallots, minced
1 1/2 cup arborio rice
1/4 cup mascarpone cheese
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Bring your chicken stock to a simmer and then reduce the heat to low, lid, and keep warm.

In a medium saute pan over medium heat, combine the olive oil, mushrooms, onion, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Let these cook, stirring occasionally, the whole time you’re making the rice. If they start to stick to the pan or seem to be browning too much, turn the heat down very low.

In a large frying pan over medium heat, melt the butter and fry the shallots for about two minutes, until they begin to soften. Add the rice, stir to coat each grain with the butter, and cook for about a minute. FYI, if I weren’t avoiding alcohol, I would add 1/3 cup dry white wine at this point and cook it until it the pan was almost dry.

Here’s the point in the recipe at which Dan and I like to start arguing about how to best handle risotto. I say, add two big cups of the hot broth and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, and sort of ignore it, stirring every now and then, until it’s absorbed. Dan likes to add the stock 1/2 cup at a time right from the very start and stir constantly. After my first big addition is absorbed, I add the rest of the stock in small increments, making sure that it is absorbed before adding the next the ladle of stock. When you make this recipe, you decide. There’s more than one way to make risotto.

You will know your done when you taste a grain of rice and it’s tender. This takes something like 22 to 30 minutes. If you are cooking with wine, it’s nice to have a glass as you stand and stir.

Once the rice is tender, add the mascarpone in a few small chunks and stir until it’s melted and incorporated. Stir in your mushroom-onion mixture, which by now will be quite concentrated and will bring some major earthy flavor to your risotto. Add the lemon zest, and if you aren’t using wine, the juice. If you are using wine, you still may want to juice, taste it and let your palate be your guide.

I was pleasantly surprised by the way things turned out, considering my haphazard planning and rushed approach. While I ate dinner, I thought that should be something crunchy somewhere on the plate. Croutons for the salad would have been nice. I sort of wished I had made the risotto the day before and then made little risotto cakes and pan fried them and put them on top of the salad. You didn’t think I could turn my restaurant critic brain off when I’m evaluating my own dishes did you? Next time, it will be better.