Balsamic Blueberry Risotto

Dan    Appetizers & Co., Recipes     appetizer, berries, delicious, dinner, mushrooms, vegan

What you’ll need…

1 cup fresh blueberries

3/4 cup balsamic vinegar

4 1/2 cups chicken stock (or veggie to keep things vegan)

1 1/2 cups arborio rice

3 cloves garlic

1 1/2 cups brown mushrooms

2 shallots

1 TSP dried oregano

1 TBSP dried thyme

3 TBSP fresh thyme

salt & pepper

Don’t fear the reaper…whoops, I mean risotto! If you’ve decided to take the time and make risotto, might as well do it with a twist right? This balsamic blueberry reduction gives this risotto a beautiful colour and a one-of-a-kind taste! Just remember to stir, stir, stir!

Start by getting 1 cup of (washed) blueberries, balsamic vinegar, garlic cloves, and 1/2 cup of broth into a small pot and to a boil. Then, let simmer on medium heat until the mixture has reduced by two thirds. That’s going to be approximately 20-25 minutes. Since you have some time on your hands, quarter the mushrooms, mince the shallots, chop your fresh thyme and set aside.

Once the mixture has reduced by two thirds, fish out the garlic cloves (they’ve done their job!) and remove from heat. This should yield about 1 1/4 cups of the blueberry balsamic reduction.

Place the risotto and 2 1/4 cups of broth into  a large pan. Bring to a boil and reduce to medium heat. Now, this is when you should become stir crazy…in a good way. Stir the rice faithfully until the broth is absorbed. Now, start adding more liquid by alternating 1/2 cups of the reduction and the remaining broth. Constantly stirring.

After about 10 minutes of stirring mix in the mushrooms, shallots, and dried spices. Over the next 10-15 minutes continue to slowly add more liquid (and stir, stir, stir!) until it’s been fully absorbed. Right at the very end fold in the fresh thyme, saving a bit to top your risotto. Finally, salt & pepper to taste (depending on the type of broth used, you should need very little salt).

If you don’t want to stir something again for awhile, I don’t blame you, but, for now, savour the rewards of a risotto stirred well!

Serves 4-5

Total cook time…50 minutes

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