Cremini mushroom, gorgonzola and sausage risotto

Have you ever seen the Slap Chop informercial? For some reason, I see it frequently and it draws a laugh every time. One of my favorite lines is where he says, "you'll be slapping your troubles away"... so that's the ongoing joke now when we use it. That and "you're gonna love my nuts" but that's another story altogether.

I bring this up because I used my Slap Chop in tonight's dinner dish: cremini mushroom, gorgonzola and sausage risotto. Most of my recipes are inspired by a chef and created because I have something in the fridge that's going to go off soon. This one was no different. I had chicken stock that needed to be used and I found a recipe by Giada de Laurentiis which was the base for tonight's dish (see original recipe here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/gorgonzola-and-porcini-mushroom-risotto-recipe/index.html)

And now my version (forgive typos... we're on the second bottle of vino).

Ingredients:

• 4-5 cups low-sodium chicken stock
• 8 cremini mushrooms chopped
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 medium onion, diced (or SLAP CHOPPED TO HELL because I hate big mushroom chunks)
• 2 cloves garlic (again, slap chopped)
• 1.5 cups arborio rice
• 3/4 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
• 3/4 cup (3 ounces) Gorgonzola, crumbled
• 1/2 cup marble cheddar
• 3 mild italian turkey sausages cooked and sliced diagonally
• Salt/pepper to taste

Directions

Heat stock to a simmer and keep warm over low heat.

In a large, heavy saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic and mushrooms and cook until the onions are tender but not brown, about 3 minutes. Add the rice and stir to coat with the butter. Add the wine and simmer until the wine has almost evaporated, about 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of warm stock and stir until almost completely absorbed, about 2 minutes. Start cooking the sausages at this point because they will be done roughly when the risotto is. Continue with remaining stock, adding 1/2 cup at a time, and allowing each addition to be absorbed, until the rice is tender to the bite and the mixture is creamy, about 20 to 25 minutes. Slice up the sausages when they are done. Remove the risotto pan from the heat. Stir in the parmesan, gorgonzola, marble cheddar, sausages salt and pepper (if needed). Serve right away with white wine... I'm using a sauv blanc.

This recipe is creamy deliciousness.