Mushroom Risotto with Grilled Sausages

Mushroom Risotto with Grilled Sausages

The risotto part of this recipe is almost entirely adapted from this recipe here www.allrecipes.com/recipe/85389/gourmet-mushroom-risotto/ .  However, camping is all about making do with what you have in your fridge, the tools you have in your drawers, and the heat you have available with which to cook.  Your food will not spontaneously combust if you don’t have the right ingredients (for the most part).  Everything is going to be A-OK and it will taste awesome, not because it matches what is in print in your cookbook, but because you made it in your own kitchen, with your own two hands, in a space that most people can’t fathom doing themselves.

Ingredients:

6 cups chicken broth

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 pounds mushrooms, sliced or chopped (we used shitakes and buttons, but you can use any combination you want)

2 shallots, diced

1 ½ cups Arborio rice

½ cup dry white wine (we used boxed wine, lovingly referred at Camp Buy Me Love as, “The Bladder of Wine”)

Salt to taste

Ground Pepper

½ cups chopped green beans

4 tablespoons butter

1/3 cup grated parmesan (or more, if you’re like us and appreciate cheezy things)

Heat oil in a large, deep skillet (you are using ONE pan for this whole recipe, so make sure it fits all of your ingredients) over medium high heat.  Heat oil until it’s swirly, but not smoking.  Put rice and shallots in pan and coat with oil.  Cook for about a minute and add mushrooms.  Saute until mushrooms are cooked through and rice is golden in color.

You will notice that the recipe I loosely followed says for you to cook the mushrooms in the oil first, set them aside, then cook the rice and add mushrooms at the end.  Well folks, I did NOT do it in that order and guess what?  My food still tasted amazing, so there’s that.  It was a mistake though, so if you want to do it the correct way, saute the mushrooms first, take out of the pan, then cook the rice and add in cooked mushrooms at the end. 

Pour in wine and let wine get fully absorbed by the rice.  If you have the luxury of having 2 burners and are open to getting a second pan dirty, it’s best if you can have hot chicken stock at the ready, but I’ve done risotto with cold chicken stock before and, although not ideal, it will still taste awesome.  Your food, your kitchen, your choice.  Add ½ cup of chicken stock until almost fully absorbed by the rice.  Continue adding ½ cup stock at a time, until you’ve added all 6 cups, waiting to add once the previous addition is almost completely absorbed.  If you are using green beans, add the green beans before the last 2 half-cups are added.  That way they will cook a little bit in the broth before serving.  Rice should be al dente, which means it should still have some bite, about 15-20 minutes.  Once cooked, add in the butter and cheese (and whatever herbs you want to add). 

While risotto is a filling meal all on it’s own, we love getting sausages from small markets wherever possible.  We keep 2 or 3 links in the freezer most of the time.  They go with most anything and add protein to carb-centric meals. 

While I cooked the risotto in our trailer, G was busy grilling the sausages over the grill, however, you could saute the sausages in a skillet, then slice to add over the risotto.

Leftover Meal Option:

What's great about risotto is it can be transformed into another meal.  This recipe makes way more risotto than 2 people can eat in one sitting.  We shared this with some fellow campers, but still had some leftovers.  I portioned out servings in zip locks, pressed flat, and placed in the freezer.  Though you don’t have to press flat, those with small fridges (like us) gain way more freezer space with flat storage. 

On mornings where we might have a little extra time, I put a bag of frozen risotto in the fridge the night before to defrost.  In the morning, I form the risotto into cakes and sauté them.  Fry or poach an egg for the top or eat with sautéed veggies, or both.  You could even make a breakfast sandwich by placing in the middle of an English muffin.  Add some cheese or an egg and you have the perfect road food!