It has been a goal of mine for the past several months to get a good risotto recipe… and I have succeeded!

The base recipe was from food network, but I of course messed with it, so here is the final:

The goods:
olive oil
1 largeish shallot, minced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/4 finely diced red onion
2 portobello caps, rinsed and rough chopped
2 cups Arborio rice
8 cups vegetable broth
1 cup grated Parmesan (get the good stuff from the cheese case, not the green can)

The method:
– put broth in stock pot over low heat to warm up while you’re chopping your goods
– mince shallot, dice onion, chop mushroom
– get a bigass skillet nice and hot. add a couple tablespoons olive oil
– saute shallot, garlic and onion. move FAST so nothing burns.
– when shallots and onion are barely translucent, add mushrooms (and more oil if needed to keep everything moving), saute for another 2 or 3 min.
– stir in the rice, saute until grains are translucent. (at this point I turned down the heat on my skillet to around medium)
– add one ladle-ful (about 1/2 cup) of broth to rice, stir until fully absorbed.
– continue adding broth one ladle at a time. Do not add next ladle until the previous one is fully absorbed. This takes about 20 or more minutes.
– when rice is creamy but not mushy and kind of just-past-aldente, it’s perfect.
– stir in the cup of parmesan cheese
– taste, and adjust seasonings. I added a whole bunch of salt and pepper. And more garlic powder.

Plate it up! Garnish with more cheese, or fresh basil or parsley.

OH SO GOOD.