Catch Up Time: Mushroom Risotto

Being married is somehow keeping me really busy. Who knew that adding a person to a household would take so much time? Really though, being married is great. It's wonderful to have someone around to talk to, someone to laugh with and most of all, someone to share my meals with. I'm going to play catch up on our first meals as a married couple. I've taken pictures of almost all of them--even the terrible FLOP that you'll read about soon.

But this one is a winner. It's a mushroom risotto that I've made a couple times, but it hasn't been on the blog yet. Adapted from Weight Watchers, this is comforting and filling even with no meat. Risotto is a labor of love, so be prepared to stand over the stove top and stir for at least 30 minutes.

Mushroom Risotto

6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 tsp unsalted butter, divided
1 small yellow onion, minced
1 pound mushrooms, thinly sliced or shredded (I've used a mix of cremini, shitake and white)
1/3 cup white wine
1 1/2 cups uncooked arborio (risotto) rice
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (Parmesan-Reggiano is the best)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 cup fresh parsley, minced

Place broth in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cover to keep warm. You'll use this to cook the risotto. It needs to be warm or else your risotto won't turn out right.

Coat a large saucepan with cooking spray; place over medium heat. Add 1 teaspoon butter and melt.

Add onion; cook, stirring, until onion begins to caramelize, about 7 to 10 minutes. Add mushrooms; cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms release moisture, about 5 minutes. Add wine; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; reduce liquid by half, about 4 to 5 minutes. Remove vegetables from pan; set aside.

Add remaining teaspoon of butter to same pan; cook until melted. Add rice; stir to coat with butter. Pour about 1/2 cup warm broth into rice; stir to keep grains from sticking to sides of pan. Keep stirring until all of broth is absorbed. Add another 1/2 cup warm broth and repeat process. Keep adding broth and stirring in this manner until all of broth is used and rice is just cooked but not mushy (should still be slightly chewy), about 18 to 20 minutes. At this altitude, I've found that I have to cook my rice a bit longer in order for it to be the texture I like--more like 30 minutes.

Stir in vegetables and cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper; stir in parsley. Makes about 6 servings if you do1 1/3 cups per serving.

5 WW points per serving.

Brent loves this too--always going back for seconds.

Served with a nice Pinot Grigio