Mushroom Risotto with Roasted Turkey and Salad

This was a weekend dinner since I roasted a whole turkey and served it with my famous Mushroom Risotto. To balance out all that richness, we had a salad with my Balsamic Vinaigrette. I also used this risotto for Easter and you can customize risotto to whatever is in season or tickles your fancy. Here is the recipes for the vinaigrette and risotto, I hope you enjoy them!

Balsamic Vinaigrette
Makes 2 cups

1 1/2 cups olive oil
1/2 cup Balsamic Vinegar
2 Tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Salt and Pepper, generous to taste

1. Combine all ingredients into a topped jar and shake it! Serve with your favorite greens

Basic Risotto
Makes 6 side servings

4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 onion, diced as small as you can
3/4 cup arborio rice
2 cans broth, I usually do one beef and one chicken to add depth of flavor
1/4 cup cream
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
Salt and Pepper to taste
Add-ins - see suggestions below

1. Take out 2 saucepans, one with the broth on low heat and one on medium-high. Add the butter to the empty pan. Once the butter is melted, add the onions. Cook the onions until they are translucent and fragrant.
2. Add the arborio rice to the pan and stir to toast for a few minutes, once it has a couple of minutes, add 2 ladles of broth to the pan, drop the heat to medium. Stir very frequently until the broth has been absorbed and you can draw your spoon across the bottom and still see the bottom.
3. Add another 2 ladles of broth and stir again until it has been absorbed. With the final set of broth, make sure to stir constantly, this is where the starch is released and it gets it's "creamy" nature.
4. Once the risotto is to you desired consistency, drop the heat to low and you add the cream, Parmesan, cayenne, salt, pepper, and add-ins if desired. Stir until all combined and serve immediately.

Add-ins 

• Mushrooms - our favorite - just take a package of mushrooms and clean and de-stem. Chop coarsely and add at the end of risotto process
• Bacon - very decadent and you will want to scale the salt back - just chop the bacon finely, a great tip I learned was to freeze the bacon slices you can get a better grip on them. Fry the bacon and drain, add to the end of risotto process
• Caramelized onions - very tasty and pure - while the risotto is going, finely slice an onion and add to olive oil on medium-high heat, season with salt, pepper, and a splash of Balsamic Vinegar. Add at the end of risotto process
• Spinach - just take fresh spinach and add at the end of risotto process and the leaves will wilt in the warmth
• Roasted Bell Pepper - either roast your own peppers or use a jar of peppers, drain and roughly chop, add at the end of risotto process
• Ultimately, risotto is a blank canvas for any flavors you want to include with your next meal - just try it out. Risotto is not a hard thing to make, it just takes time and it tastes like you are at a fancy restaurant. Enjoy!