Risotto e Funghi -- Mushrooms and Rice

1 cup arborio rice *
3 cups chicken stock or broth
2 tsp. olive oil
1/3 cup diced onion
1 cup sliced mushrooms (button, shiitake or oyster)
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. minced fresh thyme
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
Salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

Directions:

Heat the stock in a saucepan and keep hot over a low heat. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a separate medium-sized pot. Add the onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook until tender, about 10 more minutes. Add garlic and thyme and cook for about 2 minutes more.

Add the rice to the onion mixture, stir and turn the heat to low. Add about 1 cup of the hot stock to the rice mixture, and stir slowly until the stock is absorbed. Continue to add the stock 1 cup at a time, stirring slowly, letting the rice absorb the stock before adding more. The rice is cooked when it is creamy on the outside and slightly firm in the center, about 20-25 minutes.

Stir in half of the Parmesan cheese and the mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper to taste. If the risotto becomes to thick, add a little more stock until it becomes creamy.

Comments from djplam :

This is a great dish full of cheese and mushrooms and great Aborio rice. The mushrooms take it out of the Milanese class and into a class by itself. Try it as a great side dish with a tuna steak . . . Or swordfish. It goes equally great with seafood or meat.

* Do not use instant nor minute rice.

From my cookbook: The "Old Country" Italian Cookbook, by Donald J.P. La Marca

User Reviews:

This is a fantastic risotto. I've made it several times and it went over very well at a dinner party I had. I use a mixture of shitake, oyster, and portabella. Since making risotto requires you to spend a lot of time at the stove, make sure you have a bottle of wine handy.

submitted by jslagle on December 03, 2007

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