Mushroom Risotto

By weavincanuck

Ingredients

• 1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 small yellow onion
• 180 gr Arborio (risotto) rice (1 cup)
• A medium glass of dry white wine
• 150 gr of fresh mixed (or, if you find them, porcini) mushrooms or 75 gr of dried ones
• 1 and 1/2 porcini mushroom stock cubes to be dissolved in 750 ml of water
• 1/2 tbs of butter
• 4 tbsp grated Parmigiano Reggiano

Details

Adapted from dressing4dinner.com

Preparation

Step 1

Double recipe 2 cups rice, 3 stock cubes, 6 cups water


First of all, if you are using dried mushrooms, soak them in lukewarm water for at least half an hour, drain them and set them aside. Chop the garlic and onion finely. Heat the oil in a wide frying pan and add the chopped aromatics. Cook them until they’re soft and golden. In the meantime prepare the stock and keep it simmering very gently on one side. Add the rice into the frying pan and stir it thoroughly into the onions and garlic, letting it ‘toast’ for a minute or two in order to sear (coat) it. Turn the heat right up and pour in the wine. The heat needs to be very high at this stage because you want the alcohol to evaporate fairly quickly, as you don’t want to boil the rice into it. Once the rice starts drying off, turn the flame back down to medium heat. It’s now time to add in the mushrooms and a ladleful of stock. Keep stirring the rice; make sure you do not leave it unattended as it takes a split second for the whole content to go super dry and burn. Keep adding the stock gradually until the rice is completely cooked, which shouldn’t take any longer than 20 minutes. Now taste the risotto and see if it lacks any salt. It really shouldn’t as the stock should be sufficient for flavour – although better safe than sorry! Once ready, add the butter and a couple of teaspoons of grated cheese (remember, you are cooking Italian food so please, refrain from adding cheddar . . . you know who you are!), stir to allow all the ingredients to hobnob and the butter and cheese to melt and finally plate the dish. Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper, some extra Parmigiano if you so wish and garnish with fresh or dried flat-leaf parsley or coriander.