Creamy, umami packed risotto with a beautiful twist of sweet and sour from the caramelized lemons. This risotto recipe will keep you wanting more as the bold flavors of the delicate risotto dance on your tongue and make your tastebuds sing!
This recipe can be served as a side dish or the main course. If serving as a main course, it would be enough to feed two people. If serving as a side, it could feed four or more people.
This recipe takes the popular mushroom risotto to the next level. No alcohol is used in this recipe, so no need to worry about replacement! The best part is that you probably already have the ingredients necessary to make this recipe!
If you do not have arborio rice on hand, no worries! You can use any rice you have on hand for risotto, the end result might just not be as creamy depending on the starchiness of the type of rice you use.
Maybe you're trying to be healthier but love risotto. You can replace rice with other grains in order to lower the glycemic index (blood glucose-raising potential) of your risotto dish. The end result will be different but if your goal is to move away from starches and consume more complex carbs, this is a great way to do so!
Replacement for arborio rice (including healthier alternatives):
- Basmati rice (or any long grain rice): Do one quick rinse of the rice before cooking, but do not wash thoroughly as the starch helps make the dish creamy. Start with 3 cups of water following the same process using arborio rice and then check on the texture of the rice before adding an additional cup to prevent mushy texture. End result will be slightly less creamy
- Brown rice: Do a quick rinse of rice before cooking, but do not wash thoroughly as the starch helps make the dish creamy. Follow same directions as original rice, checking texture in between adding water to make sure rice does not become mushy.
-Quinoa: Follow same instructions as arborio rice. It is possible you will need 1/2 cup more of water than the original recipe.
Note: If you desire your alternate grain to have a creamier result you can do the following:
- Make a cornstarch slurry: 1/4 water with 1/2 tsp cornstarch and then mix in at the same time you mix in the Parmesan Reggiano. If you like your risotto to be more "saucy" you can add 1/4 cup more of water.
- Heavy cream: add 1/4 cup heavy cream with the Parmesan and mix thoroughly. This is nontraditional but will make the risotto creamier.
- Parmesan: add more cheese will help make the dish creamier, you may need to add a splash more of liquid (such as water) to emusilfy the cheese.
- Butter: stirring in cold butter into the finished risotto is how risotto is traditionally made. I hardly ever do this because for the amount of fat it adds to the dish it does not change to end result enough for me to miss it, but if you are using a less starchy grain, adding more butter in the end to emulsify into the risotto will build a creamier, saucy, end product.
Storage:
On the off chance you have leftovers, or if you are smart and used this recipe to mealprep, I would recommend storing it in an airtight container, preferably glass. It can last in the fridge up to 5 days. I do not recommend freezing risotto because of the high water content would result in a change in texture of the rice once thawed.
Mushroom and caramelized lemon Risotto
Servings:2-4| Prep time: 10 minutes| Total time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
1 cup Arborio rice
2-4 tbsp butter
2 lemons
3 cloves garlic
1 1/2 cup mushrooms chopped
1/2 onion
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1 bouillon beef cube
4-5 cups water
1 cup Parmesan Reggiano shredded
1 tbsp honey
Directions
Wash and zest one lemon, chop mushrooms and onions and mince garlic.
Heat deep pan or pot to medium heat.
Add mushrooms with 1 tbsp butter and ¼ tsp salt. Mix and allow mushrooms to wilt and all excess water to evaporate before adding onions with an additional 1 tbsp butter.
Once onions are translucent, add in minced garlic and lemon zest.
Once garlic is golden, add in Arborio rice (no need to wash because the starch adds to the creaminess of the risotto) with additional tbsp of butter if mixture appears dry.
Add in ½ tsp salt, black pepper, paprika and crushed bouillon beef cube.
Once rise is toasted, slowly mix in 1 cup water, continue mixing.
Once rice has fully absorbed water, add in additional cup, mix and let sit covered for 3-5 minutes (water should be on a slow-medium simmer).
After time has passed, check rice, mix and add additional cup of water, cover and let sit and repeat until all water has been used and rice is texture of your liking (if rice is too hard at end of process it is most likely because your temperature was too high, and the water evaporated to quickly before it could be absorbed. This can be fixed by adding additional cup of water until texture is softened.)
While rice is cooking, wash and thinly slice second lemon and heat pan to medium with butter and honey and mix until both are well combined.
Add lemon slices to pan and let cook for around 1-2 minutes on both sides or until golden brown.
Once rice is fully cooked, stir in parmesan and taste to check if more salt is needed.
Pour rice into serving dish and then pour the caramelized lemon slices with the honey butter mixture on top.
Serve hot with more parmesan on the side and ENJOY!!!
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