I’m going to be honest with you. I’m not a huge fan of eating mushrooms – it’s a texture thing. But, you absolutely cannot beat the flavor they add to dishes… especially saucy ones. If you can relate, please promise me you will chop some ‘shrooms up real fine and use them. I promise in return you will never regret it.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 pound stir fry beef, cut into about 1-inch pieces
- 1 cup sliced or diced fresh mushrooms
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves fresh garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
- 1 cup red wine
- 6 cups beef broth
- 2-3 tablespoons beef Better than Bouillon
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup fresh parmesan cheese, grated (optional)
- 4-5 fresh basil leaves, chopped
- Sea salt
- Pepper
- Sour Cream (optional, for topping)
To prepare for all that is holy and lovely, pull all ingredients together ahead of time. Cut onion and mushroom and heat olive oil on medium-high in a somewhat deep frying pan.
Place olive oil into large frying pan over high heat. After oil is hot, fry beef until browned. Set aside.
In same pan, saute mushrooms until softened and a beautiful brown. Using a straining utensil, remove mushrooms from pan and set aside.
Add more olive oil if needed. Place chopped onions into oil. Cook until translucent and caramelized. They will begin to brown. Add minced garlic. Then add Arborio rice and stir until rice is translucent around the edges yet white in the center.
Finally, the finicky side of risotto… the babysitting.
Pour red wine & a cup of beef broth into risotto. Stir and cook on medium heat until wine is nearly all absorbed by the rice.
This recipe is brought to you by the word “Stir”. Don’t even think of walking away. I love this spoon. It is a hand-carved reminder that I am loved. If someone can take the time to hand-carve a beautiful spoon for me, I can certainly stand here and hand-stir my risotto.
Continue to cook and add broth in this same fashion – one cup at a time about every 5 minutes – until broth is gone but, more importantly, until risotto is al dente (not mushy and not crunchy). The dish should be a little creamy. Stir in 2-3 tablespoons beef Better than Bouillon to your liking.
Stir in cooked mushrooms, butter, parmesan cheese, basil, and beef. Add salt & pepper last since you can’t be sure how much salt you will need until after the parmesan has been added. If desired, sprinkled freshly grated parmesan over the top and perhaps some freshly chopped basil.
Keep trying new things, brave souls. Keep giving hand-made gifts that cannot be found on Amazon. Keep stirring up lovely things. Keep being saucy.