Mushroom Risotto

After a long build up, I finally have for you the recipe from our dinner last week.  This recipe comes courtesy of The Naked Chef by Jamie Oliver.  As you can probably tell by the number of Naked Chef recipes we use, we absolutely love his cooking and this cookbook in particular has been used so much that the pages are showing their age! It is without further ado that I bring to you…

Mushroom Risotto with Garlic, Thyme and Parsley
For the risotto base: 4 c. Chicken stock   

1 T Olive Oil

2 medium onions chopped

Half a head of celery chopped

2 cloves Garlic

14 oz arborio rice,

1/2 cup. white wine

3 to 3.5 oz freshly grated parmesan cheese

For the mushrooms:

9 oz cremini (or other preferred) mushroom  3 T Olive Oil

2 t Thyme

1 (more) clove of Garlic

1/2 c Parsley

a pinch of chili powder

a squeeze of  Lemon juice
Directions:

• Heat the chicken stock. 
• Slice the mushrooms thinly and separate into two or three equal portions (depending on how big your mushrooms are, we usually just have two portions). 
• Take about a T of olive oil and add it and the first portion to a hot pan.   At this point add the thyme and cook for 1 minute and then add the garlic and a little salt and continue to cook for a few more minutes. 
• Once they pass your taste test, add the parsley, pepper, chili powder and lemon juice.  When you are seasoning don’t forget that you will have to repeat all of these steps for the next batch, so reduce the ingredients by that much. 
• Once they are done chop half of the mushrooms and set aside.
 
In a separate pan heat the olive oil over medium heat and add the onion, celery and salt and cook for 3 minutes.
Then add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes.    
Next, turn up the heat and add the rice. (don’t step away from the pan now).  Keep the rice slowly but constantly moving.  Fry the rice for 2 or 3 minutes (the rice is supposed to begin to look translucent by this time, but if you can't tell, don't worry about it).   At this time add the wine and keep stirring as you pour.
Once the wine has cooked into the rice, add the first ladle of stock.  You can add some salt if you want, but since store-bought chicken broth already has a lot of sodium in it, it's probably not necessary unless you're using homemade broth. Add the chopped mushrooms to the mixture at this point.  Turn the heat down to a high simmer so as not to boil the rice.  Continue to add ladlefuls of stock, waiting for the previous one to be abosrbed before adding the next one, until all of the stock has been absorbed.   This process takes 15 to 30 minutes. 
Remove from the heat and add the rest of the mushrooms and the Parmesan.  Stir gently.
It is recommended to eat the risotto while it is hot, but from experience I can say that it is still just as good the next day!

Nutritionals: (for each 1.5 c serving-I usually don't eat that much) Calories: 421.6, Fat: 15.3, Sodium: 506, Carbohydrates: 52.2g, Fiber: 1g, Protein: 14.4g.