Pea & Mushroom Risotto

We had our first taste of homemade risotto during a recent Mammoth trip - Drunken Risotto to be exact, courtesy of Rachel Ray. It was delicious and I was super excited to try the recipe at home. After a lot of research, I settled on a popular Giada recipe from the Food Network. I wasn't disappointed with the results - the rice, cooked low and slow in a homemade chicken broth (using leftover Costco rotisserie chicken) was creamy, al dente and bursting with flavor from the onions, garlic and bacon. 

The hardest thing I found about making the risotto is knowing when it's done. I had to pay close attention to the last 10 minutes of cooking to make sure the rice didn't overcook. I erred on the side of safety and added small amounts of broth at a time to make sure I didn't end up with too much residual liquid. If you are worried that your rice is too soft and there is still a lot of liquid in the pan, turn up the heat high and stir quickly to evaporate the liquid without overcooking.

The cool thing about risotto is the versatility of the recipes. All you need to do is learn the basic technique and then you can make modifications to the ingredients to create dishes with different flavor profiles. Here are some of the variations I saw during my research:
1) rice (short-grained Arborio, black rice, wild rice, barley, orzo)
2) broth (chicken, beef, veggie) 
3) wine (red, white, champagne)
4) aromatics (onions, garlic, shallots)
5) fat or meat (bacon, pancetta, sausage, prosciutto, shellfish, sea urchin) 
6) fresh veggies (peas, fava beans, spinach, asparagus, artichokes, cooked squash or pumpkin) 
7) cheese (Parmesan, Romano, asiago)
8) herbs (sage, mint, basil, thyme)
9) nuts (pistachios, almonds, chestnuts)
10) acids and spices (curry, saffron, lemon)
12) mushrooms (shitake, button, cremini, truffle)

Mushroom Risotto with Peas
adapted from Giada de Laurentiis

Ingredients 
8 cups canned low-salt chicken broth 
1/2-ounce dried porcini mushrooms 
1/4 cup unsalted butter 
2 tablespoons olive oil 
2 cups finely chopped onions 
10 ounces white mushrooms, finely chopped 
2 garlic cloves, minced 
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice or short-grain white rice 
2/3 cup dry white wine 
3/4 cup frozen peas, thawed 
2/3 cup grated Parmesan 
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, optional  

Directions

Bring the broth to a simmer in a heavy medium saucepan. Add the porcini mushrooms. Set aside until the mushrooms are tender, about 5 minutes. Keep the broth warm over very low heat.

Melt the butter in a heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add olive oil. Add the onions and saute until tender, about 8 minutes. Add the white mushrooms and garlic. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the porcini mushrooms to a cutting board. Finely chop the mushrooms and add to the saucepan. Saute until the mushrooms are tender and the juices evaporate, about 5 minutes. Stir in the rice and let it toast for a few minutes. 



Add the wine; cook until the liquid is absorbed, stirring often, about 2 minutes. Add 1 cup of hot broth; simmer over medium-low heat until the liquid is absorbed, stirring often, about 3 minutes. Continue to cook until the rice is just tender and the mixture is creamy, adding more broth by cupfuls and stirring often, about 28 minutes (the rice will absorb 6 to 8 cups of broth). Stir in the peas. Mix in the Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.