Wild Mushroom Risotto

I love to cook. I love to cook for other people. And, if I do say so myself, I'm a pretty amazing chef. I like to work with a recipe I'm given and tweak it a little and make it a little different, something new. So I've decided to start posting a few of these recipes for you all to try out. Yes, these will be vegetarian. And yes, they will be delicious. My first recipe will be a risotto. Because I love risotto.

Wild Mushroom Risotto

Ingredients:

• 3 14 1/2-ounce cans vegetable broth
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 shallots, chopped
• 1 pound assorted wild mushrooms (such as oyster, crimini and stemmed shiitake), sliced
• 1 cup arborio rice
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 3/4 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• 1 sprig of fresh rosemary 

Dried herbs to have on hand:

• Thyme
• Red pepper
• Basil
• Herbs de Provence

The Process:

In a saucepan, pour all cans of vegetable broth. Bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat and cover. We will be using this later but it does need to stay hot.

In a large skillet, melt the butter and add the diced shallot and garlic over medium heat. Saute this for (approximately) one minute. Add you mushrooms to the mix, saute until they are tender and you can see that their juices have been released. This will take anywhere from 5-10 minutes depending on how small you cut your mushrooms. Add your rice, stir to coat it in the mushroom/shallot/garlic. Increase the heat to medium high and add 1/2 cup of the vegetable broth. Let this simmer until it is completely  absorbed then add another 1/2 cup of broth. Stirring frequently, continue the process of adding 1/2 cup of broth and letting the rice fully absorb it until the rice is tender. Stir in the Parmesan cheese and fresh thyme. Stir in the dried herbs to taste (I never actually measure this, but I would guess I use approximately one teaspoon of each). Remove from heat, add the sprig of rosemary, do not stir in as this will be removed before serving. Let it sit for ten minutes.

Serve warm and with wine. Enjoy!