Though you wouldn’t exactly know it from this blog, I love me some risotto in the wintertime. Creamy, rich, cheesy — who could resist that? (Clearly, not me.) It’s comfort food at its finest, and pairs nicely with the winter squash and heavier vegetables of the season.
But some days, I want the heartiness of risotto without all of its attendant richness. This year’s winter has been weirdly mild, and last week, a heavy dish like mushroom risotto felt like almost too much. So instead, I made an approximation of risotto, using quinoa.
Risotto is so creamy in part because of the starchiness of the short-grain rice used to make it, typically Arborio or Carnaroli rice. Though, to be fair, the addition of copious amounts of butter and cheese help. Obviously I knew that my quinoa risotto would not be able to approximate that, though because I wanted a lighter version of risotto, I was okay with that. Perhaps adding a touch of cream would have helped, but I didn’t have any at home.
My end result was more akin to a cheesy mushroom quinoa pilaf than true risotto, albeit a pilaf laden with sauteed mushrooms and roasted garlic and fresh thyme. Oh and cheese, lots and lots of Parmesan cheese.
Mushroom Quinoa “Risotto”
– 1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed and drained
– 3 tablespoons butter
– 2 cups water or vegetable stock
– 1 cup dry white wine
– 2 cloves garlic, minced
– 8 ounces white or baby bella mushrooms, sliced
– 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, chopped
– salt and pepper, to taste
– 1/4-1/2 cup shredded Parmesan
1) Place the quinoa, 1 tablespoon of butter, water/stock and wine in a medium pot and bring to a boil. Once the quinoa is boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes, until the liquid is absorbed.
2) In a separate skillet, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. Sautee the garlic until slightly browned. Add the sliced mushrooms and cook for 3-5 minutes, until the mushrooms have sweated out slightly. Add the thyme, and season with salt and pepper (go a little easy on the salt, since you’ll be adding Parmesan). Cook for an additional 5-7 minutes, until the mushrooms are cooked.
3) When the quinoa is cooked, stir in the cooked mushrooms. Top with the Parmesan (depending on whether you like your risotto cheesy or not, you can go anywhere from 1/4-1/2 cup of cheese. I’ll let you guess what end of spectrum I went for … ). Top with a little chopped thyme and serve.
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