Mushroom and Spinach risotto is on Sweet Caramel Sunday!

Fresh spinach, soft mushroom cups, parmesan, pine nuts,  pear cider and arborio rice bring this delicious Mushroom and Spinach Risotto to your table!

I feel like I have been playing the game of pac man recently where the dots are my time and the dot munchers are everything except things which really allow me to relax and recharge away from the Monday – Friday 9-5pm. However, I can happily say that I made the time today to make this awesome risotto, which I hadn’t done for a while and it gave me some space to think and breathe and function at a slower pace than of late. Risotto is a meal which I got into making a few years back when I had a big rice cooker which I could put everything in. I tend to always go for the same combination of ingredients when I made it (almost always vegetarian) for no specific reason, other than I like the flavour of the spinach and mushroom together and figure the parmesan cheese is enough protein/fat to not add additional with heavy meats. Although I have a vague memory that maybe once or twice I did this dish with bacon or chorizo, way back.

This is the perfect vegetarian or Meatless Monday dish!

 

One pan recipe

Today, I used one big frypan which was awesome as all ingredients fit, cooks consistently and doesn’t take too much effort to clean up. I had to do away with the rice cooker of old as I found I just had so much crap in the kitchen, it was starting to frustrate me. But ever since I got my large frypan, it has been my staple cooking tool. It has a non stick base which helps things not stick to the pan and risotto is notorious for that. It also has a clear lid so even when things are simmering away you can always keep an eye on whats happening on the stove which is one of my favourite parts of cooking – seeing how things progress along the way.

I sometimes sit in front of the oven when I am cooking something in there to have this same level of engagement, but as this was a stove top specialty I will save the story of the oven watching for another day!

The flavours in the mix are fabulous and it is a nice meatless option for a night you don’t feel like a heavy dish.

Meal prepping

Interestingly the reason I took to making this dish this weekend was because I wanted to do some meal prep and make aranchini balls for salads next week at work. I set some of the risotto aside for meals and then the rest I turned into balls (with a little gorgonzola in the middle) that I will write about for my next post.

A little bit more from me

All the talk I heard for this weekend was that it was going to rain. At this stage whilst it looks a little dark and grey out there it still seems pretty dry – go figure. Either way, though my cooking today gave me back something that I had been looking for! I love the time to think, not talk, not listen and best of all be creative. Hope you give the recipe a try and follow by blog.

Cheers Adrianne (from sunny QLD!)

Mushroom and Spinach Risotto

Fresh spinach, soft mushroom cups, parmesan, pine nuts,  pear cider and arborio rice bring this delicious Mushroom and Spinach Risotto to your table! 

5 from 3 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Australian, International

Keyword: mushroom and spinach risotto, risotto, vegetarian

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Servings: 4

Calories: 464kcal

Author: Adrianne

Ingredients

Mushroom and Spinach Risotto

• 1 tbs olive oil
• 4 bulbs garlic peeled and crushed
• 250 ml pear cider or dry white wine
• 1 1/2 cups arborio rice
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 2 cups mushrooms sliced
• 2 cups spinach leaves
• 1 tbsp thyme leaves
• 1/3 cup parmesan cheese grated
• 1/4 cup pine nuts toasted
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tbs butter melted

Instructions

Mushroom and Spinach Risotto

• Put splash of olive oil into large frying pan and add garlic
  
• Pour in rice, followed by wine and fry off for at least 3 minutes
  
• Add stock, stir to combine then add lid and simmer for 10 minutes, stiring intermittently
  
• When the rice is cooked, add the mushrooms, thyme and pine nuts
  
• Turn stove off, add spinach leaves to pan and return lid
  
• After 5 minutes, take lid off, pour in butter and stir to combine
  
• Serve with cracked pepper
  

Notes

• You can use either white wine or pear cider as the liquid when doing this step, I have even used apple cider when it was all I had and I didn't want to rush out and get the one missing ingredient (all flavours work well!) 
• If you are not a big drinker and don't have wine on hand, you can get small packets of wine or sashays for less than $3 from the bottle shop. These are perfect for keeping in the cupboard for cooking.  

Nutrition

Calories: 464kcal | Carbohydrates: 67g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 13mg | Sodium: 1228mg | Potassium: 354mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 1895IU | Vitamin C: 8.3mg | Calcium: 121mg | Iron: 4.7mg

Note: Original post from October 2017. Updated post with new photos May 2018 and new recipe card April 2019 (same original recipe).

Recipe Suggestions

If you like this recipe another one you might be interested in checking out is this Turmeric Cous Cous with Crispy Bacon and Basil Drizzle Salad recipe which can be found here. It is another colourful and bright salad that is a nice change from your typical garden lettuce salad. Or you might fancy making a caesar salad in which case, I have just the recipe for you with this Crispy Chicken Caesar salad.

Are you trying to reduce your meat intake and want delicious meal options, then here is a recipe for my Vegan Brown Rice Noodles which are an awesome Vegan option!

Or you might like to make Pad Thai instead of getting take out and this recipe is a fabulous go to for authentic tasting Thai at home. If you are not in the mood for noodles tonight, why not try something completely different and in that case, I would recommend this delicious Minestrone soup which is sure to satisfy a variety of taste buds!!

One last recommendation I will make is for soup you never know when you are going to get sick and need a bit of comfort food, this recipe for Chicken Noodle Soup is better than a Doctor’s script!

Let me know if you give this dish a shout, I would love to know what you think. If you share a picture on instagram use the hashtag #sweetcaramelsunday I would love to check it out xx

P.S If you love food and want to start your own blog, I have written a Step by step guide to starting your own blog and you can get that here.

P.P.S And if you want to up your Food photography, I book I highly recommend is The Food Photography Book by Nagi from RecipeTin Eats.

Save for later!