Mushroom Risotto

Priya loves risotto! She loved it the first time we had it together while we were in Vieques.. I know she will order it at a restaurant if its on the menu. It got me thinking about how difficult would it be to make... Looking at recipes I found out that the rice used to make risotto is kinda special. It's called Arborio rice. It is a medium grain rice and it is firm and creamy due to the high starch content. It was definitely not easy to make because you have to keep mixing the rice and adding the broth little by little, till it is cooked. It took me around 30 minutes.. Here is the recipe from my itallian cookbook



Ingredients

• 2 cups mushroom (we used a mix of portabella and crimini)
• juice of lemon (1/2 lemon)
• butter 6 tbsp
  
• 2 tbsp chopped parsley
• 4 cups vegetable stock
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 shallot chopped
• 1 1/2 cup risotto rice (arborio)
• salt and fresh ground pepper
• 3 tbsp fresh grated Parmesan
  

Method

• Chop the mushroom really small and then toss it with the lemon juice
• Melt 2tbsp butter and stir in the mushroom. Cook over moderate heat till they give up their juices, and begin to brown. Stir in the parsley. Cook for 30 seconds and then remove to a side dish.
• Place the stock in a saucepan and simmer till needed.
• Heat 2 tbs butter with Olive oil in the same pan the mushroom were cooked in. Stir in the chopped shallots and cook until it is soft and golden. Add the rice, stirring for 1-2 minutes to coat it with oils. Add the mushrooms and mix well.
• Now on moderate heat add one small ladle full of the hot stock and cook until the stock is absorbed or evaporates, stirring the rice with a wooden spoon to prevent it from sticking to the pan. Add a little more stock, and stir until rice dries again. Continue stirring and adding the liquid a little at a time. After about 20 minutes of cooking time, taste the rice . Add salt and pepper.
  
• Continue cooking, stirring and adding the liquid until the rice is al dente, or tender but firm to the bite. The total cooking time of the risotto may be from 20-35 minutes.
• Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the remaining butter and cheese. Allow the risotto to rest for 3-4 minutes before serving.
  

Creamy Cheesy Pasta

Its been ages since I have written anything at all. It doesnt meen I havnt been cooking.. It just means, i havnt made anything interesting recently. Actually thats not true!

My Wife loves cheesy pasta.. She is a big fan of white sauce! When we go out to a Itallian dinner, thats what she looks for.. So I thought I would try to cook her something which would be cheesy and also different than what she is used to.

I turned to chow.com and posted a request for suggestions and a lot of people gave me good ideas. Finally here is what I made

sauted garlic and shallots in olive oil.
added chopped baby bellas.
Once the mushroom softened up a bit, added some flour and mixed it up in the mushroom and shallots and garlic.
Then added some white wine and cooked the entire thing till I reduced the wine.
Then added vegetable broth and cream and let it reduce for a few minutes.
I then added half a can of diced tomatoes and some itallian seasoning and salt to taste.
Once the entire sauce looked to come together, I added crumbled gorgonzolla cheese,
some grated smoked gouda cheese and grated parmessan cheese.

I finally mixed this into farfalle I had cooked earlier before starting the sauce.

The dish looked heavenly and the combination of the three cheeses was just so tasty!!

I will post a picture soon!

Spaghetti with tomato, basil, and mushroom sauce

I love to cook itallian food for my wife. Itallian cooking to me is very calming and very romantic and it always puts me in a great mood. I put on some nice music and open a bottle of wine and then start cooking... I think this is my first Ittalian recipe for my blog.. hope you try it out and like it!

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons olive oil
1 large shallot, minced (about 1/4 cup), plus 1 shallot,
sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
10 ounces baby portobello mushrooms, chopped into 4
parts each
3/4 cup chopped onion
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1 pack of
Spaghetti
3/4 cup vegetable stock or canned vegetable
broth
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, thinly
sliced
Additional grated Parmesan cheese

Method:

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add minced shallot and 1 minced garlic clove and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Increase heat to high, add all mushrooms, and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer mushroom mixture to bowl.

Heat remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in same skillet over medium heat. Add onion, sliced shallot, and remaining 2 garlic cloves; sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Add diced tomatoes with juices and white wine and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in mushroom mixture and 1/4 cup fresh basil. Remove from heat. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper; cover to keep warm. (Mushroom sauce can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Rewarm mushroom sauce before continuing.)

Cook pasta in heavy large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain well. Return pasta to pot. Add mushroom sauce to pasta and toss to coat. Add vegetable stock and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, tossing to coat. Transfer to bowl; sprinkle sun-dried tomatoes and remaining 1/4 cup basil over. Serve, passing additional Parmesan cheese separately.