Arborio rice is a short grain Italian rice, often used for risotto, and happens to be one of the items left on the shelf in my grocery store.

The basic technique for risotto is to first toast the rice in oil. Then you slowly add hot broth to the rice, a small amount at a time, allowing the rice to soak up the broth before adding another ladle. The technique can be time consuming but it yields a creamy risotto.

But just in case you don’t have the time or energy, you can always use a pressure cooker or an Instapot, which is what we used for this recipe.

Risotto can be plain on its own and simply finished with Parmesan or made with vegetables - butternut squash, asparagus, peas, etc. Likewise, you can use chicken broth or a flavored broth to enhance the flavor of the risotto.

Porcini Mushroom Risotto for 1

Olive Oil

1/2 medium shallot, minced

1/2 Cup dry arborio rice

2 Tbls Dry White Wine

1 Cup Broth - We used our Porcini Mushroom Broth Starter which is 1 ounce of dried porcini mushrooms with spices and herbs. In an Instapot, we combined the starter with 4 cups of water and set the pressure to high to cook for 10 minutes, release in 10 minutes. We kept the pieces of porcini in but you can strain the broth before adding to the arborio.