ROASTED MUSHROOM RISOTTO
The base of flavour to this risotto comes from plenty of porcini stock and tons of browned mushrooms. When browned well, mushrooms add so much meatiness that even the most devout of carnivores would love this vegetarian dish. I finished the dish with a nice chunk of truffle butter I received as a gift. It definitely adds even more mushroomy depth, aroma and luxury but is by no means necessary.
I used button and oyster mushrooms here just because of how easy they are to get your hands on. Adding or replacing with different varieties of edible mushrooms are strongly encouraged.
ROPASTED MUSHROOM RISOTTO
EQUIPMENT
INGREDIENTS
- 275 g button/chestnut mushrooms
- 75 g oyster mushrooms
- 1 large onion
- 4 cloves garlic
- 4 thyme, sprigs
- 25 g dried porcini
- 200 g arborio rice
- 100 ml white wine, dry
- 40 g parmesan
- 80 g unsalted butter
- 20 g rocket leaves or watercress, optional
- olive oil, salt and pepper
METHOD
- Begin by chopping the dried porcini into small pieces using a pair of scissors. Place into a measuring cylinder. Pour 1.25 litres of boiling water over them and allow them to steep while you prepare your ingredients.25 g dried porcini
- Finely chop 200g of button mushrooms, the whole onion and 2 cloves of garlic. Reserve separately.275 g button/chestnut mushrooms
- With the remainder of your button mushrooms, cut into bite-sized pieces or leave whole if they’re nice and small. Tear the oyster mushrooms into bite sized lengths by hand.
- Place a medium-sized pot over medium heat and add 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the onions to the pot and season with salt. Stir to cook for 4-5 minutes or until the onions have softened but not browned.1 large onion
- Add your minced mushrooms and turn the heat up to high. Season the mushrooms with salt and stir constantly as they cook, they will give off a lot of moisture and reduce in volume considerably.
- Once the mushrooms have lost most of their moisture and have reduced considerably, reduce the heat to medium and add the minced garlic. Cook for 2-3 minutes while stirring.4 cloves garlic
- Add your rice to the pot and reduce the heat to low. Cook while stirring for 2-3 minutes to toast the rice and coat it in the mushroom mixture.200 g arborio rice
- Increase the heat to medium and add 100ml of dry white wine, allow it to reduce while stirring.100 ml white wine
- Once almost completely reduced, add 1/3rd of your porcini stock to the pot and stir gently to separate the rice. Add all of the soaked porcini to the pot also.
- Cook while stirring occasionally for 5 minutes or until the liquid has reduced by half.
- Add a further 1/3rd of the porcini stock and continue cooking while stirring occasionally.
FOR THE SAUTEED MUSHROOMS
- While that is cooking, preheat a large saute pan over medium-high heat.
- Place the remaining button mushrooms into the pan, drizzle lightly with olive oil and season with salt. Allow to cook without moving for 2 minutes.75 g oyster mushrooms, 275 g button/chestnut mushrooms
- Lightly crush the unpeeled cloves of garlic. Add a tablespoon of butter to the pan along with 2 sprigs of thyme and an unpeeled clove of garlic. Coat the mushrooms in foamy butter and cook until well browned. Season to taste with freshly ground black pepper and a few drops of sherry vinegar.4 cloves garlic, 4 thyme
- Once cooked, add the mushrooms to your risotto and reserve a few pieces for garnish.
- Wipe your pan and repeat the sauteing process with the oyster mushrooms.
FINISHING THE RISOTTO
- Add half of your leftover stock to the risotto. Continue cooking while stirring until almost all of the liquid has reduced.
- Taste your risotto for seasoning and doneness. If the rice still has a crunch, add more liquid and continue cooking with more stock. If the risotto is very underseasoned, add a pinch of salt but don’t go overboard. We’ll be adding salty parmesan later.
- Continue to cook the rice while stirring constantly until it is tender but still has some texture to it and the liquid surrounding the rice is thick and starchy. If the rice is cooked but very dry, add a few teaspoons of stock to loosen it up.
- Turn the heat off and allow your risotto to sit for 1 minute.
- Add the rest of your butter and grated parmesan and stir off the heat until they have both emulsified into the risotto.80 g unsalted butter, 40 g parmesan
- Serve immediately on warm plates and top with the reserved mushrooms. Garnish with more parmesan, black pepper, sauteed mushrooms and rocket leaves.20 g rocket leaves or watercress
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