mushroom risotto

mushroom risotto

if you love mushroom’s this recipe is a must, but even if they aren’t your thing, following the basic risotto principle and substituting with roasted butternut squash, or any other vegetables will make a great risotto for friends & family. A worthy recommendation is going the extra mile to make the mushroom stock for the base of the risotto.

comfortably serves 2

ingredients:

• 150g oyster mushrooms

• 15g dried porcini

• 1 shallot

• 1 clove of garlic, finely minced

• 150g arborio risotto rice

• 1 large glass of wine

• Juice of 1/2 a lemon

• 75g grated parmesan

• 25g butter

• olive oil

• basil or tarragon to finish

• parmesan shavings

• 1 litre boiling veg stock or mushroom stock see below:

  optional:

  mushroom stock:

• 200g chestnut mushrooms

• thyme sprigs

• 1 litre of water

method:

mushroom stock:

1. For the chestnut mushrooms, slice finely and place on a baking tray with a few sprigs of thyme.

2. Roast for 10-15 minutes on a high heat, then remove from the oven, adding the mushrooms to a pan with the dried porcini and cover with 1 litre of boiling water, leave to allow the flavours to infuse.

3. Once finished, strain the liquid and remove the thyme sprigs. Reserving the mushrooms, these can be finely chopped or left sliced and added to the risotto during cooking.

   For this recipe: the mushrooms and porcini were finely chopped, as the risotto is topped with the fried oyster mushrooms.

risotto:

1. In a deep frying pan, first, add a glug of olive oil, and fry the shallots until soft & translucent, the aim is for the shallot to dissolve in the risotto.

2. Add the finely minced garlic to soften.

3. Then add the rice - the aim is to coat each grain of rice in the oil and almost toast before adding any liquid to the pan.

4. Shock the rice with the addition of the white wine and reduce the alcohol completely.

5. Once the wine has reduced, one ladle at a time, add the mushroom stock or vegetable stock, continually stirring the risotto until dissolved.

6. Repeat the process, this should take 15 minutes until the stock is used and the rice itself is cooked.

7. At this stage, you can add the sliced or chopped mushrooms leftover from the mushroom stock.

8. Add the parmesan and butter taking off the heat, stirring to incorporate. The risotto should now have a creamy texture, if needed add a splash of water to thin.

9. Check for seasoning and finally add the lemon juice, keep the risotto warm, whilst cooking the mushrooms.

10. For the pan-fried oyster mushrooms, firstly place a frying pan on a medium heat adding a small amount of olive oil.

11. Fry for 1-2 Minutes until golden, take off the heat before serving season with salt & pepper. At this stage, you could add lemon, or vinegar or fresh herbs to enhance the flavours.

    Top Tip: Ensure the oyster mushrooms are evenly sized to allow the same cooking time, if not, cook the larger mushrooms first, before adding the smaller mushrooms to the pan.

    to serve:

12. Spoon the risotto into bowls, tapping the bottom to allow a flat layer.

13. Top with the pan-fried oyster mushrooms, parmesan shavings and finely sliced herbs of choice, in this case, basil, but tarragon, parsley or chervil would work.