Cooking for 1 Plus 3: Risotto with Mushrooms

I posted a recipe for Steamed Mussels recently after preparing a meal that I cooked for myself and my 3 children, but not my husband, who had to work late. The meal consisted of mussels atop whole wheat pasta, along with the broth, crusty bread, a glass of Pinot Grigio and there I had it: an adult meal. Unfortunately, that meal didn’t quite cut it for my kids so I fed them plain pasta with parm, crusty bread, 1 mussel each (a “try it bite”) and sliced red peppers. Their glasses had milk instead of wine. I call this method of cooking for myself and breaking apart the elements for my children deconstruction. I find that a lot of people who are cooking for themselves don’t always enjoy cooking because they feel as though whatever they make yields too much and they do not want leftovers for 4 nights in a row. And if you are feeding yourself and your kids, you don’t necessarily want to base your meal on what they will eat, because let’s face it, most kids are picky. And there it was, the birth of “Cooking for 1 Plus 3”.

It’s actually not too difficult to prepare something satisfying for yourself, so you don’t eat your way to a craving, while giving your kid(s) a wholesome meal, more to their liking, too. I am not a short-order cook and rarely prepare two separate meals. My kids eat what I eat which is why I often, not always, but often deconstruct my meals for them. It was actually a huge breakthrough when they collaboratively decided that they liked lasagna. It’s like they could read each other’s minds and made a pact that they would now eat it.

Today’s dish is Risotto with Mushrooms. I definitely don’t expect my kids to eat mushrooms since I, myself, didn’t eat mushrooms as a child. I ate almost anything but not mushrooms until I was around 20. Now I love them. What changed my mind? I think it was good ole college peer pressure. Sometimes it is actually beneficial!

There are one or two things to know when you are cooking mushrooms. When I was in culinary school, the chef instructors, in their French accents, would always say, “Let it cook,” when we had onions, mushrooms or meat in a pan and the goal was to achieve a golden sear. What they meant by that was when you have your meat or onions or mushrooms in a pan, let them sit for 3-5 minutes to get the browning process started before you move the food around. You’re essentially caramelizing the surface and sealing in the juices.  When you try to move meat that is not seared, it sticks. When you try to move mushrooms and onions when they’re not ready, they release their juices and steam. For mushrooms and onions, it is okay sometimes, but not every time.

Risotto is relatively easy to cook. I typically start by sweating onions and garlic (“sweating” means that you move them around a lot so they do not color) and then I add the rice and cook it for about a minute. Next I add white wine, such as Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc, let that absorb, and add stock, a half a cup at a time, absorbing between each addition and stirring a lot, until the rice is al dente. Then you have risotto. Sometimes I add cheese but rarely heavy cream because it is creamy enough when it’s right. For my kids, there is no shot of getting them to eat it if they see onions and garlic floating around. If I have any chance of passing it off as “cheesy rice”, which is what I call it, I have to leave that stuff out. That’s okay because while the rice is cooking, I get a pan going off to the side with my add-ins.

When I was in culinary school, I had an internship at a restaurant that was called RM (it’s gone now). One thing I learned from the cooks was that risotto can be partially cooked, refrigerated, and then finished off to order. What that means for me is it’s one of those things I can cook almost all of the way in the morning, or whenever, and then finish off right before dinner. So for this dish, I cooked the risotto most of the way through and when it was time to eat, I finished cooking it while I was sautéing the mushroom mixture, which I had already prepped earlier and had ready to go. It took about 10 minutes for me to get everything ready for dinner which was great since we got home late from my daughter’s extra-curricular class. For this recipe, I did enough risotto for one adult and three children and a generous amount of mushroom mixture for 1 person. If you want it to be vegetarian, use vegetable stock. For vegan, go a second step after switching the stock and omit the cheese. Otherwise, enjoy!

Risotto with Mushrooms

Serves 1 adult, 3 children

*Gluten Free*Vegetarian/Vegan Options*

 

Ingredients:

Risotto:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 ½ cups Arborio rice

½ cup white wine, such as Pinot Grigio

Around 3 cups low-sodium, gluten-free chicken stock or broth

¼ cup parmesan or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus more for garnish

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

Salt and pepper to taste

 

Mushroom Misture:

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

¼ pound or 4 ounces shitake mushrooms, sliced (see below)

¼ medium red onion, sliced (see below)

1 small clove garlic, chopped

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon chopped herbs (such as half thyme, half sage)

¼ cup white wine

Salt and pepper to taste

 

 

Equipment:

Medium saucepan

Measuring utensils

Wooden or bamboo spoon

Chef’s knife

Cutting board

Procedure:
Risotto:

 

-Heat a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add olive oil and then rice. Cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently. Pour in wine and stir frequently until it absorbs. Add chicken broth, ½ a cup at a time, stirring frequently, and adding more after each addition absorbs. The risotto is done once the rice is al dente. At that point, stir in salt, pepper and cheese. Check for seasoning (salt and pepper) and adjust if necessary.

Mushroom Mixture:

-While the rice is cooking, heat large sauté pan over medium heat. Add oil and then mushrooms and onions. Spread them out in the pan and then let them sit for 3-5 minutes, or until they begin to brown. Give the mixture a light stir and then cook some more, moving things around occasionally. When the mushrooms shrink and the onions are limp, add garlic and cook a minute or two more. Add the salt, pepper, herbs and wine and stir to combine, cooking until the wine is absorbed. Check seasoning and season with salt and pepper to taste.

To Assemble:

-Scoop around 2/3 of the risotto into a bowl. Top with the mushroom mixture and garnish with a sprinkle of fresh parmesan cheese.