On New Years Eve, I had Risotto Croquettes as an appetizer at the party we went to. I asked Devin if he had ever had risotto, and he said no! I told him I would definitely make it for him, because it is SO good! I have gotten inspiration lately from friends that are amazing cooks, such as Ari and Nicole. I wanted to know what inspired Ari and where she got her ideas. Come to find out, she makes a lot of her recipes up off the top of her head! That is amazing to me! I am normally not super creative when it comes to coming up with my own recipes, so a lot of times I look for recipes online and make subtle changes to them.

This time, I wanted to make up my own. I’ve made risotto before, and what I love about it is that it is like a blank canvas. You can make it into anything you want it to be!  I wanted to make one with mushrooms and some kind of fresh herb. Rosemary came to mind, so I went with it! I went to the store and got Arborio rice, fresh rosemary, shitake and Portobello mushrooms, and vegetable broth.  I had onion, garlic, EVOO and light butter at home already.

Making risotto is a method. Basically, you keep whatever broth you are using warm in a pot next to your skillet, and add it ladle by ladle until the rice is fully cooked, stirring regularly. This gives it an almost creamy texture without using any type of cream. Additional ingredients are added once the rice is about halfway done.

Here are the ingredients you will need:

2 cups Arborio rice (or risotto rice)

2 boxes + 1 can vegetable broth

2-3 tea minced garlic

1 tbsp light butter

1-2 tbsp EVOO

1 medium red onion diced

6-8 shitake mushrooms cleaned and sliced

1 Portobello mushroom cap chopped into 1 inch pieces

3 sprigs of fresh rosemary (one for broth and 2 minced)

salt and pepper to taste

Start with a large sauté pan with at least 1.5-2 inches depth, and let it warm on medium. Add butter and EVOO. Then, sauté garlic and onion until onion is just slightly browned . Then, add rice and cook, stirring frequently, for 5-7 minutes.

While mixture is heating, put vegetable broth into a pot and bring to a boil, then crank down slightly to keep hot. Add a sprig of fresh rosemary to the broth to infuse broth with the rosemary flavor.

Pull the rosemary from the stem and mince well, set aside.

Add enough broth as to cover the rice, stir often. As the rice soaks up the broth, gradually ladle in more broth until covering the rice again. Continue this as the rice soaks up the broth each time. Add minced rosemary to mixture with first addition of the broth.

After about half of the broth is gone, add mushrooms to mixture and stir until uniform. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Continue adding broth until all has been soaked up by the rice. By the time the last of the broth has been soaked up, the rice should be done. I have run into a problem in the past where the broth is gone, but the rice is still not fully cooked. Don’t worry! Just add an extra can of broth to the pot, let it warm up, and keep adding until the rice is done.

This is what your risotto should look like:

There you have it! Serve immediately in a bowl as a main course, or as a side, with some freshly grated parmesan cheese on top.

Doesn’t it look yummy!? Well, it was to die for! I never in a million years expected this to turn out as well as it did!! Devin was a huge fan, and said it was so good there aren’t words for it . He does know how to boost a woman’s confidence!

Thanks so much to my amazing chef friends that inspire me to try new things and be creative with cooking. Without you ladies, I would still be making chicken with brown rice and fat free cream of chicken soup and calling it a home cooked meal, lol!

I hope you enjoyed this recipe! If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment below, and I’d be glad to answer them!

Have a great Wednesday and rest of your week!

Happy Trails!

Stacey