Who doesn’t love a risotto? Don’t be intimidated by its fancy name or by the fact that you need to stir this dish a lot while cooking. It’s just rice, its not hard!! Rice is a starchy food, the shorter the grain of rice, the more starch it contains. The arborio rice in risotto is super short so it produces a lot of starch that becomes rich an creamy when cooked with stock. You can make the following recipe with just about any ingredient being the star of the dish. I chose a blend of mushrooms, but risotto is delicious with asparagus, peas, roasted butternut squash, you name it, it can be substituted in this classic Italian dish.

Mushroom Risotto

4T. olive oil

1 yellow onion diced

3 cloves of garlic finely chopped

salt and pepper

2 tsp. Italian seasoning

1/2 cup white wine

2 cups of arborio rice

6 cups vegetable stock

4 oz. of mushrooms (blend of shitake, oyster, and portabellas)

4 T. heavy cream

1 cup of chopped flat leaf parsley

In a large pot over medium heat, add your olive oil, onions, garlic, salt and italian seasoning. Cook the onion, while stirring until soft, then add your mushrooms and rice. Stir the rice in well with the herbs and onions, add the white wine. Keep stirring until most of the liquid is absorbed, then add in 1 cup of stock. Keep stirring the rice and adding another cup of stock each time that it is all absorbed until gone. Your finished rice should have a “pudding” like consistency, if it seems too thick just add a bit more stock. Add salt and pepper to taste. When risotto is done, stir in oat milk and chopped parsley.