What Kate Made:

Creamy, warm, savory Risotto Blanco with baby portabellas. My Mamma would make this for me in high school. After long days running in the rain or snow during soccer matches I would come home to this warm, filling meal. This recipe is simply amazing!

This has now become one of my husband’s favorite dishes as well and is a staple meal in our house. It makes very little dirty dishes (yay!), is made from mainly staples I have on hand (rice, broth, cheese), and the ingredients can be easily substituted for whatever you have (i.e. bellas for pork or chicken, peas for asparagus etc). Also, leftovers make a great lunch the next day!

Ingredients:

2 Tbs butter
1 small onion, diced
½ package of baby portabella mushrooms, sliced (not pictured because I’m a space ball)
2 C short grain sticky rice
¾ cup white wine
6 C broth (I use bullion cubes for this, its cheaper and I always have them on hand for a quick, last-minute meal like this)
1 C frozen peas (again, not pictured because of the occasional lack of substance between my ears)
1 C shredded parmesan
Salt and Pepper

 In a medium saucepan, put the chicken broth on low heat to warm up. Don’t let it come to a boil though; you want all this broth to make it to the rice pan! This is an important step, if you don’t you will “shock” the rice when you add it and make crunchy risotto. Take my word for it, I have learned the hard way.
In a large pot, melt the butter (or olive oil if you would rather) over medium heat, coating the bottom. Add your diced mushrooms and onion and give a quick stir to coat. Let these two marry for about 3-5 minutes until the onions are translucent and the mushrooms are starting to wilt a little. (I’m not sure if wilting is the correct term, but it’s what it looks like they are doing so let’s go with it.) Add a little salt and pepper to your veggies.

Next, add the rice to the onions and mushrooms and stir immediately with a wooden spoon. The rice will soon turn almost translucent. Keep stirring and don’t let it stick to the bottom! After a few minutes a little white speck will start to show up in some of the rice. Keep stirring until most of the rice has this. It will take about 5ish minutes.
Add the white wine to the rice. It will sizzle, but don’t worry yet, you will not shock it this early. I am sure there is some science to this, but it is beyond my knowledge so just trust me that it will turn out okay. Stir everything together until the wine is absorbed into the rice.
Now is time to start adding the broth. You want to add this about 1/2 to 1 cup at a time. I just scoop mine out using a small measuring cup from one pan to the other. Don’t add the broth all at once. You will want to wait until the current rice absorbs the broth that is in the pot already before adding more. Make sure you keep stirring!
While an easy and yummy dish, it is not a ‘walk-away-and-forget-it’ kind of thing. I can usually get away to put away one or two clean dishes really quick between adding cups of broth, but that is about as far away from the stove as I get. 

Once the broth is completely added and almost absorbed add the peas and stir. Once those are incorporated add the cheese, turn off the stove, and mix until it is all melted in.

There you have it! This is truly, one of my favorite things to eat ever. I mean you can’t go wrong with rice and cheese. Every time I eat this I think of my Mom. What could be better than that?

 xoxo,

Kate