{Olga from The European Mama and I believe that the best recipes are those that evoke beautiful memories. In this series, we will each share one recipe per week on our blog and tell the story behind why it is one of our Recipes to Remember. You are invited to add a recipe of your own to the link-up at the bottom and add our badge to your post. We’ll each pick one recipe from the last to highlight the next week.}

All you need is a little patience

In 1999, I packed up a suitcase and moved to Italy to be an au-pair. I had spoken to the family a couple of times via phone, had seen a few photos of them in their garden but otherwise had no idea what I was getting myself into. Little did I know that would the beginning of my deep dive into Italian life.

Italy holds a very special place in my heart and I love to recreate the amazing dishes I learned to cook while I lived there. Nomad Papa, a proud Italian himself, is equally happy to watch the kids and let me make his favorite meals from home.

Risotto is one of those dishes that is quintessentially Italian. The cooking technique is so different from how most other cultures make rice that it seems nearly impossible to create. This couldn’t be further from the truth. The only essential ingredient in risotto is patience. If you have that, you can make restaurant quality risotto that will amaze your family and friends.

Creamy Mushroom Risotto

2014-01-15 15:36:43

Serves 4

All you need is patience to make this mouth-wateringly delicious authentic risotto.

Write a review

Save Recipe

Print

Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

30 min

Total Time

35 min

Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

30 min

Total Time

35 min

Ingredients

1. 5 cups vegetable broth
2. 4 tbsp olive oil
3. 1-2 onions
4. 1 tsp thyme
5. 1 tsp sage
6. 3 cloves garlic
7. 250g stem on or 500g stem off mushrooms (chestnut, portabello or porcini), thinly sliced
8. 350g arborio rice
9. 1/4 cup white wine
10. 1/3 cup grated parmesan or grana padano

Instructions

1. Warm the vegetable broth to near boiling in a large pot on the stove.
2. Finely chop the onions and garlic and put into a large saucepan or wok. Add 1/2 of the olive oil, the thyme and sage and put the pan on a medium-heat stove eye. Simmer until the onions become translucent.
3. Add the rice to the pan and pour in the remaining olive oil. Saute the rice with the onions and garlic for a few minutes, stirring periodically. The goal is to lightly toast the rice.
4. Add the wine and then mushrooms to the pan.
5. Using a soup ladle, add two ladles of the vegetable broth to the rice and leave to simmer uncovered on a medium-low heat. Make sure to stir the broth into the rice.
6. When the broth is nearly all evaporated (but before the rice burns or sticks to the bottom of the pan), add another ladle of broth and stir again.
7. Continue alternating the simmering time with adding 1 ladle at a time of broth until the rice is creamy and soft and most, if not all, of the broth is gone.
8. Sprinkle the cheese on the top of the cooked rice, stir and serve!

Notes

1. A creamy rich sauce distinguishes a great risotto from an okay one. The best way to achieve this is to let the rice absorb the broth very slowly. Cook on a low flame and only add broth when the previous amount has been almost completely absorbed. This will allow the starch to build up and create the creamy finish.
2. If your risotto needs a bit of extra flavor, you can add 1-2 tsps of butter right before sprinkling on the cheese.

By Lynn Morrison (@NomadMomDiary)

The Nomad Mom Diary http://nomadmomdiary.com/wordpress/

What recipes bring back memories for you?