Vegetarian Risotto
I hope everyone is hanging in there despite being more or less confined to your own houses/apartments. I have been in a rut and haven’t really cooked anything fancy, just whipping up something from whatever I have had available. First I thought I wouldn’t even post any of my recipes, but then decided to share my efforts. This first one was two weeks ago, when I had some leftover produce in my fridge that was starting to go bad and I decided to make a vegetarian risotto. I had some asparagus spears as well as spinach and about half a pint’s worth shiitake mushrooms. Basically you can make this almost with any kind of veggies, just remember to take into account the different cooking times. The key to successful risotto is heating up the vegetable stock (you could also use chicken stock if preferred) and constantly stirring the risotto while it cooks. Most likely you won’t need the full 4 cups of stock, I definitely had some left over.
This will feed 2 people as a main course or 4 as a side dish.
INGREDIENTS:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion diced
1/2 pint shiitake mushrooms diced
1 tbsp butter
1 cup Arborio rice
4 cups vegetable broth
1 cup fresh spinach
few asparagus spears
freshly grated parmesan cheese
oregano
STEPS:
Heat olive oil in a non-stick skillet. Add the diced onion and saute for few minutes, then add the shiitake mushrooms. Cook until the onions are soft and translucent and the mushrooms have reduced. Remove from the skillet and set aside.
While cooking the onion and mushroom heat the vegetable stock in a separate pot.
Add the butter to the skillet and let it melt. Then add the rice and saute for 1 to 2 minutes. Then start adding the hot broth one soup ladle at a time. Stirring constantly wait until the broth has been absorbed before adding more. Repeat until the rice is almost cooked (20 to 25 min) and starting to be creamy, then add the asparagus spears to the rice and cook for a few more minutes.
Fold in the fresh spinach and the saved onion and mushrooms. Let cook just so that the spinach starts to wilt.
Finish the risotto with some oregano and freshly grated parmesan cheese.
If you wish you could add some salt