Mmmmm risotto. I’ve been fighting a cold since I’ve been back from my vacation and I’ve been really craving some hearty comfort food. And after having Asian food for a few weeks, a rich creamy risotto was exactly what I needed. This is a very basic vegetarian risotto, using vegetable stock instead of chicken, and you can really alter it by adding different types of mushroom, vegetable and even different types of cheese. Hope you like it!

Ingredients:
2 cups of Arborio rice
2/3 cup of dry white wine
8 cups of vegetable stock
3 tablespoons of butter
2 french shallots - finely diced
1 yellow onion - finely diced
1 cup of finely sliced button mushrooms (porcini would be better)
2 sprigs of fresh oregano - finely chop the leaves
1 sprig of fresh rosemary - finely chop the leaves
1/2 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup of frozen peas
extra virgin olive oil
sea salt
fresh ground pepper
chili infused olive oil for garnish (optional)

Step 1: Prep!
Before we get started, make sure everything is chopped and ready to go. You’ll need 3 pans for this, small saucepan, medium size pot, and medium size saucepan. In the pot, pour in about 4 cups of the vegetable stock and bring to a simmer. In the medium size sauce pan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter and throw in the chopped onion and shallots. Sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt and fresh ground pepper. Let that sweat for about 3 minutes on low heat.

Step 2: The stir!
Once you’ve got the onions and shallots ready, add the last tablespoon of butter and the chopped oregano and rosemary. Then pour in the 2 cups of rice, mix it around and let the rice coat with butter. Let that cook until the rice is a bit golden. Pour in the white wine and let that simmer until buttery - about 5 minutes. Make sure you mix often. Once the wine has been absorbed, pour in about 1 cup of the simmering stock from the other pot. Stir until the liquid is absorbed and repeat until the the rice is cooked - about 30 minutes. I used 8 cups of stock to 2 cups of rice, it might differ based on type of rice, broth and pan size. Before your last cup of broth is added, start on the next step!

Step 3: The mushrooms!
In a small saucepan, drizzle about a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil over medium heat. Throw in the garlic and let that cook until it starts to turn a little brown. Now throw in the mushrooms and cook until soft, should only take a few minutes. There will be some juice from the mushroom cooking down but it’ll just add to the flavors once you pour the whole thing into the risotto. Once you pour it all in the risotto, fold until the mushrooms are mixed evenly. Now make a hole in the middle of the risotto and pour in the frozen peas. Cover it up and let that cook for about 2-3 minutes before mixing it through the entire dish. Sprinkle the entire pan with the grated Parmesan cheese, mix and you’re ready to eat!

I added a drizzle of chili infused olive oil for a little extra kick, but you can top it off with a drizzle of truffle oil to really bring out the mushrooms. You can use other vegetables instead of peas like zucchini, asparagus, spinach, or even finely chopped celery.