Risotto with Mushrooms and Scallops

One of my favorite restaurants is Chef Geoff's, they have the most amazing scallop risotto and I'm in love with it. It's cooked to perfection, firm and creamy. So I wanted to recreate the same experience at home and try making my own risotto! I was super excited at how it turned out and dinner last night was a huge success.

Ingredients:
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 pounds sea scallops, remove and discard the tough muscle
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 medium yellow onion, minced
2 garlic gloves, minced
1 pound of mixed mushrooms, such as portabella, cremini and shitake, stemmed and sliced
leaves from a handful of fresh thyme sprigs
2 tbsp of chopped fresh flat leaf parsley, reserve a little for garnish
2 bay leaves
2 cups of Arborio rice, or any short grain plump rice
1/2 cup of Pinot Grigrio
6 cups of chicken stock, heated
2 tbsp of unsalted butter
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Place a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat and drizzle with about 2 tablespoon of olive oil. When the oil is hot, sprinkle the scallops with salt and pepper and brown well on both sides, about 2 minutes. Remove to a plate and cover to keep warm while you prepare the risotto.

Reduce the heat to medium. Drizzle in another 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the onion and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes until soft. Add in the mushrooms, thyme, parsley and bay leaves, season with salt and pepper and cook until the mushrooms are lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Add the rice and stir to coat with the oil, season again with salt and pepper. Stir in the wine and cook about 1 minute to evaporate the alcohol.

Now, pour in 1 cup of the warm chicken stock and stir until the rice has absorbed all of the liquid. Add another cup of stock and stir.  Continue this way, stirring constantly and adding the warm stock 1 cup at a time, allowing the rice to absorb the liquid before adding more. You want the final consistency to be slightly firm and creamy. When the risotto is cooked, fold in the butter and cheese and stir well. Add in the scallops to warm them back up. Serve warm and garnish with the reserved parsley.