Mushroom risotto
Nothing beats this tasty and creamy mushroom risotto, it definitely remains my first choice when making risottos, especially using a variety of mushrooms (fresh or dried). The way to make a perfect risotto is something that Italians are quite critical about. My risotto is made super-quick, and simplistic, always my aim.
Use Arboria rice, the classic way to make. The cooking process involves standing at the pan for about 15 minutes, whilst gradually adding the liquid and stirring constantly. A little bit of devoted time, but rewarding when you finish.
It’s still lock-down and I do not have basil, therefore I just substituted the fresh basil with 15 ml ( 1 Tbsp) basil pesto. Still remains delicious!
Serves 4 – 6
60 g butter or margarine
60 ml (¼ cup) olive oil
250 g Portabellini mushrooms, quartered
125 g brown mushrooms, halved and sliced
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
250 g (1¼ cups) Arboria (risotto) rice
60 ml (¼ cup) dry white wine
1 litre (4 cups) vegetable stock
about 125 ml (½ cup) grated Parmesan cheese
fresh basil leaves
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
60 ml (¼ cup) fresh cream, optional
1. Heat half of butter and olive oil in a deep heavy-based saucepan. Sauté the mushrooms lightly in a large heavy-based pan, remove from the pan and set aside.
2. Add remaining butter and oil to the pan and sauté the onion and garlic and for about 2 minutes until soft.
3. Add the rice and stir constantly over medium heat, for about 2 minutes until it is covered with the oil and start looking translucent. Add the wine.
4. When all the wine is absorbed, start adding the stock, ladle-by-ladle, just adding enough to absorb and cook each time, before adding more stock. Continue adding stock for about 15 minutes until the risotto starts getting creamy. Leave a bit of stock for cooking with mushrooms at the end.
5. Add the mushrooms, Parmesan cheese, basil and seasoning. Add remaining stock and heat for another 5 minutes. Add cream if preferred, heat though and serve immediately.
Variations
– Basic button mushrooms can also be used in stead of the Portabellini or brown mushrooms.
– Substitute the mushrooms with about 250 g pumpkin. This provides a beautiful colour and taste.
– Substitute the vegetables with salmon.
My special tips
• When adding the rice to butter and oil, sauté until it becomes translucent.
• Stir all the time to may sure the rice remains loose.
• When adding wine, make sure it absorbs before adding the stock.
• Add stock, in ladle spoon batches.
• The stock should be warm. (if the temperature of stock is cold, it differs from the warm rice and then the rice can remain a bit hard inside)
• Make sure the stock gets absorb completely before adding more and stir constantly.
• Adding a little bit of butter or cream can just provides a richer flavour.
• Depending on the heat that you cook, risotto takes about 15 – 20 minutes and should be served immediately, whilst still creamy.