Broken Spaghetti Risotto

I was flipping through the channels one day and happened to stop on Rachael Ray’s 30 minute meals. This isn’t a show I watch a ton, just occasionally, but this particular episode intrigued me. She was making broken spaghetti risotto. I had never thought about using spaghetti noodles in place of the rice. It is so much more economical. I had most all the ingredients on hand, so I immediately put it on the menu for the following week.

This is so comforting, creamy and just absolutely amazing! It does take a bit of time and attention to make it, but it is so worth it! Here is the original recipe from Rachael Ray, my changes are below. She served this with toasted pine nuts and an arugala salad on top, but I opted not to do that and it was still amazing. She also uses dried mushrooms and I used fresh and it turned out wonderfully. I used a combination of whole wheat and regular pasta and it tasted so good that next time I will probably use all whole wheat.

Broken Spaghetti Risotto
Source: Rachael Ray’s 30 Minute Meals

Ingredients:
1 package sliced mushrooms
1 quart chicken stock, plus 1/2 cup
2 cups water
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus a drizzle
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 large cloves garlic, grated or finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound spaghetti, broken into small pieces
2 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano

Directions:
Place mushrooms, one quart of stock and water in a sauce pot and heat, simmer over medium heat.

Heat a medium saute pan or risotto pan with 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 3 turns of the pan, over medium to medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic to pan, season with salt and pepper, to taste, and saute until tender 4 to 5 minutes. Add pasta and toast until deeply golden in color and very nutty in fragrance, 6 to 7 minutes. Stir in the remaining 1/2 cup of chicken stock and let it cook away, 1 minute. Ladle in stock every few minutes, stirring for a good minute with each addition of stock to develop starches. Evaporate almost all of the liquid before each addition of stock. Pasta will cook up quicker then rice.

Start tasting after about 8 to 9 minutes of cooking time once you begin to add stock. When you are down to the last cup of your liquids, remove mushrooms, and add to pasta.

When pasta is cooked to al dente, stir butter into the pan then stir in the cheese.