I cooked...mushroom risotto!

This is a great recipe to start off my blog with because I make it a lot. It's adapted from Jamie Oliver's mushroom risotto recipe in the book The Naked Chef, which is one of my most used cookbooks.

I usually make this for the two of us. Realistically you could get four portions out of it if you are serving it with something else, so long as those four people aren't as greedy as us...

10-12 baby bella mushrooms, sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 cup arborio or calrose rice
1 glass white wine
32 oz chicken stock (I prefer Trader Joes Organic Free Range)
1 tbsp butter
a handful of freshly grated parmesan or grana padano

Saute the mushrooms in a medium skillet, in 1 tbsp of the olive oil. Set aside for later.

In the same pan, heat the remaining tbsp of oil and saute the onions until soft. Add the garlic and fry for another minute. Add the rice and cook for a minute, stirring to make sure the rice doesn't burn.

Pour in the wine, and stir again. Once the wine is almost all absorbed, return the mushrooms to the pan and begin adding the stock. Add the stock a ladleful at a time, stirring occasionally. You will need to stay by the pan but you don't need to stir it constantly. Just make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom, and make sure it doesn't get dry. If you use all your stock and the rice isn't finished just add water.

Once the rice is cooked through, add the butter and cheese and season with salt and pepper to taste. Leave to sit for a few minutes before serving.

When it comes to the rice, I use calrose rice which is sushi rice. It is considerably cheaper than arborio rice and works exactly the same in risotto. I buy it in Dominicks, you could probably find it in most supermarkets.

I like to use Trader Joe's stock. I think the quality of the stock you use really makes a difference in the taste of your risotto. If I can't get to TJs I use a product called Better than Bouillon which is a paste you add to water to make stock. It's a pretty good alternative.

And when it comes to cheese - always fresh. Never use that long life stuff you can keep in the cupboard! I buy my grana padano from Costco in a giant wedge and freeze what I'm not using.

Hopefully I have inspired someone to take on the beast that is risotto. It is definitely worth it, I promise!