Serves 4

1/2 pound fresh shiitake mushrooms

1/2 red bell pepper, stemmed and seeded

1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted

1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 1/2 lbs fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined (or substitute other seafood)

3 1/2 cups vegetable stock

1/4 cup dry sherry

2 tbsp light soy sauce (or less depending on how salty your stock is)

1/2 tsp Asian chile sauce

6 tbsp unsalted butter

1 cup Arborio rice

1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro

Cut off and discard mushroom stems. Slice shiitake into 1/4 inch slices. Cut the bell pepper into 1/4 inch cubes. Combine the ginger and garlic.

In a pot, combine the stock, sherry, soy sauce, and chile sauce. Bring to a simmer.

Meanwhile, in a small frying pan, saute the mushrooms in 4 tbsp of the butter. Remove from pan.

In a medium pot, melt the remaining butter and saute the ginger and garlic for a minute then add in the rice. Cook over medium high heat to coat the rice with butter.

Reduce the heat to low. Add the broth, a few ladlefuls at a time, stirring continuously and adding more broth a ladle at a time as the broth is absorbed by the rice.

When the rice has absorbed almost all the broth and is tender with a slight al dente texture in the center of each rice kernel (20 – 30 minutes), stir in the mushrooms, pine nuts, and shrimp.

Simmer for a few more minutes to cook the shrimp. Taste and adjust seasonings. You can finish it off at this point with more butter and some Parmesan cheese.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the cilantro.  Serve at once.