Champagne Risotto

J. and I exchanged Christmas gifts last night and since he had been hard at work all day, I had the day off lucky me, I decided to make him a nice dinner. This Champagne Risotto was the main course. I had never made risotto before, but I have had risotto (the mushroom risotto I had my first night in England was so delicious). All I had ever heard about risotto is how difficult it is to make, truthfully it wasn't too difficult, it just required some patience.

Find the original post here.

Ingredients:
-8 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced
-1 shallot, finely chopped
-4 tablespoons butter
-1 tablespoon olive oil
-1 garlic clove, minced
-5-6 cups vegetable broth
-2 cups Arborio rice
-8 oz. Champagne or sparkling wine
-salt
-pepper

-1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Simmer the vegetable broth in a medium sized pot.

Clean your mushrooms and slice them thin.

Heat half of the butter and the oil in a large skillet.
Add the mushrooms and cook for two minutes.

Add the shallot and garlic.
Cook for two minutes.
Season lightly with salt and pepper.

Add rice to the skillet, coat in the oil.
Toast the rice for three minutes.

Add the champagne and bring to a simmer until the liquid is almost cooked out.

Add about a cup of the simmering vegetable broth, for me two ladles equaled about one cup.
Stir constantly.
Stir until almost completely absorbed.
 Repeat for half an hour or until most of the broth is gone and the rice is creamy.

Ready to serve risotto.

Serve topped with butter and a little parmesean cheese.

This recipe was delicious! It was a hit with J. and my family and I will be making more risotto in the future. The was a slight champagne taste to the dish, but the flavor wasn't overwhelming. Overall this was very much a success and making risotto wasn't nearly as difficult as I thought it would be.

I love the Christmas gifts that J. gave me -- one was blog related so I'll post a picture next week.