Leek and mushroom risotto

I'm slightly obsessed with cooking shows and have watched enough to prep, saute, and serve the semi-homemade way, in 30 minutes, for the Hamptons crowd, even on $10 a day. Every show has their own approach and pearls of wisdom to pass onto those who don't have mini prep bowls filled with pre-measured and chopped ingredients, but all of them agree that when making risotto, unless you want rice paste, you have to stir continuously. I used the roll my eyes at this adage, "aren't they a little paranoid?" I would think to myself, well no, they aren't and last night's preparation of leek and mushroom risotto was enough to never let me question the Food Network wisdom again.



It doesn't take many steps and the fact that the entire meal is made with one pot is quite nice, but the sizzling sounds of rice and tough scrapes with the spoon kept me on my toes. A few repetitions of pour, stir, repeat and I got the hang of it, the rice came together, and little Italian voices of praise rang in my head.