Pre-Spring Mushroom Risotto with Shrimp (gluten free, milk free)

I wanted to make a comfort food dish with love for my husband after rough winter travels for work. What better way to show love than with risotto. Risotto comes from the heart, aching for attention to be stirred, giving it much needed drinks of broth from time-to-time, adding the right flavors at the right moment for the best impact. Risotto lends itself to be a technical dish, in that the technique of how you make it can make or break the dish, as I have learned from Marcella Hazan's "The Classic Italian Cook Book." This book along with James Beard American Cookery I will never let out of my control; just as my step-father did. He and I would cook Italian food frequently over the years; I refer to him still to this day as a "born-again Italian". I miss him. I think he would have liked this recipe I came up with, just as my husband did the other night.



Pre-Spring Mushroom Risotto with Shrimp

ingredients:
1 cup Arborio rice
3 - 3.5 cups chicken broth
2 + 2 tbs olive oil
1 shallot, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup dried porcini mushrooms
3 shiitake mushrooms, sliced thin
5 button mushrooms, sliced thin
16 medium shrimp
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
salt & pepper (pref. white) to taste
fresh thyme & parsley to taste

directions:

1. Heat the chicken broth with the dried porcini mushrooms (can be done in microwave or stovetop). Keep it hot until completely used.
   
2. Using a 3-4 quart saucepan, warm 2 tbs oil over medium heat and saute the shallots and garlic until aromatic and transparent (about 5 minutes).
   
3. Add in the rice and stir until this is aromatic, too (about 2-3 minutes).
4. Slowly add in 1/2 cup of broth, and stir a couple of times.
5. Let cook until almost absorbed, and repeat step 4. This will be repeated using only 1/2 cup additions until desired consistency and texture of rice is achieved. This can take 30 minutes total with some stirring. Do the following steps while it is cooking. Add in seasonings about half way & taste at end. Add more as needed.
   
6. Meanwhile - In a small skillet, warm 2 tbs oil over medium heat and add in the fresh mushrooms and saute occasionally until cooked (about 15 minutes). Added mushrooms into rice when cooked.
7. Add in the peas into the rice.
   
8. Meanwhile - Using the small skillet, saute the shrimp until just pink. Add into rice very last. That is when you have acheived your desired consistency of the rice (amount of liquid) and the tenderness should be a tender al dente.

Serves 4

-Erin Swing
The Sensitive Epicure