I am no expert on risotto and have no clue if this dish should even be called risotto. But I did and it's done.
Still here?
If you are, you are in for a mushroomy treat.
The other day we had some beautiful looking portobellos in the fridge crying out to be eaten. I was planning on making grilled portobello burgers again, but randomly got an urge to whip up a risotto dish.
Maybe it was the fresh six pack of Summit Extra Pale Ale our Hy-Vee ordered in especially for us lonely Minnesotans transplanted deep into Iowa.
Beer + Mushrooms = Summit + Minnesota
Things that naturally go together.
summit extra pale ale & mushroom risotto
The use of brown rice (and probably not medium grained - gasp!) makes for a nice, chewy, nutty risotto. Beer replaces the wine (gasp!) and cheese is no where to be found (gasp!) in this amazing recipe. This may not be a traditional way to serve it, but it will be served again in the PS household!
In the mix::
- 2 portobello mushrooms - clean and cut into cubes
- splash olive oil
- 1 cup diced sweet onion
- 2 large cloves garlic - minced
- 1/4 t red pepper flakes
- 1/2 cup brown rice
- 1/2 cup Summit Extra Pale Ale (or beer of your choice, but Summit is AWESOME!)
- 3 cups vegetable stock
- 1 t dried parsley
- salt and pepper to taste
In a medium pot, heat olive oil. Saute onion, garlic and red pepper flakes until fragrant and onion softens. Add rice and stir until rice begins to brown, about 3 minutes. Add Summit and stir until mostly absorbed.
Now comes the fun part - add veggie stock 1/4 cup at a time, stirring frequently until mostly absorbed. Continue adding stock until rice is cooked through and creamy. I think this took me about 45 minutes - one hour (I forgot to time it).
Stir in parsley and add salt and pepper to taste.
Using brown rice lent a nice chew to the final dish, and using beer rocked my socks off. Next time, I might up it from 1/2 to 1 cup of beer to allow for the nuttiness to shine through a bit more at the end.
Serve with a cold crisp bottle of Summit Extra Pale Ale (duh!) and some roasted broccoli.
Mushrooms + beer = the best flavor combination in my book! This dish got four thumbs up and was a total kitchen experiment win.
Me thinks Summit Brewing Company should feature this dish on their website! :)
