Mushroom Risotto

MiddleBar Mushroom Risotto

Back in December we discussed the famous MiddleBar Risotto. This lovely Italian delight is a great side dish for any occasion but if you're feeling a bit more hungry, toss in some toadstools!

This mushroom risotto stands on it's own and is the perfect dish for all your vegetarian friends.  I use shiitake and crimini for my risotto but you can try it with any fungi you'd like. I encourage you to get creative and try out some mushrooms you've never seen before. There are 100,000 different species of mushrooms out there, so you'd better get cookin'!

Mushrooms
3 packages of mushrooms
2 cloves of garlic
1 small onion
olive oil
1/4 cup white wine
1 sprig of thyme
salt & pepper to season

Saute 1 small onion in olive oil until onions are translucent. Add garlic, mushrooms, salt&pepper, thyme and saute about 2 minutes. Add white wine and cook on medium high heat for about 7-10 minutes. Remove from heat strain 1/4 cup of juices then set aside and make the risotto.

Risotto
1 cup abrorio rice
1 cup white wine
2 cup vegetable stock
3 cups water
1/4 cup shreaded parmesan cheese
1/4 cup mushroom stock (reserved from mushrooms)
salt & pepper
zest and juice of 1 lemon

Melt butter until it is brown, not burned, brown. Add rice and 1 cup of white wine. Bring to a slight boil stirring often. Add salt. Continue to add water and stock slowly while stirring  for the next 30-45 minutes (do not be afraid to add more or less liquid as necessary to keep your risotto from drowning or drying out). The more slowly you add water and more often you stir will effect the overall creaminess of the dish. Half way through cooking add the juice and zest of 1 lemon and mushroom stock.  Once the rice is al dente and most of the water is absorbed, remove from heat and quickly whip in cheese vigorously. Add mushrooms and serve.

Wait, what's that you said? You haven't had the MiddleBar Lemon Truffle Risotto?  WHY NOT!?!?
Enjoy Ya'll!