Mushroom Risotto

I was going through my plans for a dinner party that I was throwing in a week’s time and thinking about what I would cook. Firstly, I didn’t want to cook an Asian dish as that would probably be expected, given that it’s my favourite cuisine. The other major issue was that my friend’s girlfriend is a vegetarian, so I wanted to cook something that was tasty and satisfying. Not too long before I had cooked a Cauliflower Curry and thought that I could serve that, but I just didn’t think it had the depth of flavour or may not be a sufficient main course. So I decided that a risotto would be appropriate, and this mushroom risotto seemed perfect. The great thing about mushrooms is that they are quite fleshy and meaty and they seem to retain flavour so well as long as you don’t wash them with water and drain away all their flavour.

The first time I ever cooked risotto, years ago obviously, I had no idea that you had to use Arborio rice, so I just picked up a random packet of rice which happened to be basmati rice. As you can imagine, it didn’t exactly turn out the way it should have! Now, I really enjoy cooking risottos, as it’s a balancing act to make sure the rice turns out well. Whereas when you cook paella you pour in all the stock at once, with risotto it’s a very caring form of cooking – constantly paying attention to the condition of the rice and ‘feeding’ it more stock when it gets ‘thirsty’. I got this recipe from Jamie Oliver’s 30 Minute Meals, and the thing that I really love about it is that it produces two different textures of mushrooms. Half the mushrooms go in the risotto and so become soft and oozy and the other half are placed in a pan and dressed with oil and herbs and then grilled to produce a crispy texture that produces a nice juxtaposition to the risotto. Because I cooked this recipe twice in one week, I bought so many mushrooms from my local grocer. The second time I was there, she gave me almost a disturbed look and asked me “What do you do with all of these?”, as if I go home and do something inappropriate with mushrooms!

So the evening went well, and this is definitely one of my favourite risotto recipes. It has an earthier flavour than some risottos because of the flavour acquired from the mushrooms, but that adds richness to the risotto. The only thing that produced a bit of consternation was when I was about to add the ‘large knob’ of butter. I’m a generous person, and that’s certainly the case with butter! We had a two minute conversation about what constitutes a ‘large knob’ (double entendre?), and unfortunately I had to tone down and think about everyone’s arteries, but butter and stock are the vital elements in a risotto!Jamie's 30 Minute Meals is a good cookbook, but as with my friend, I actually enjoy the long process of cooking and the preparation of all the ingredients. I know it would be different if I was married and had children, but hey, that’s never going to happen.

Recipe (serves 4):

1 large white onion, finely chopped

1 stick celery, finely chopped

2 sprigs fresh rosemary

15g dried porcini mushrooms, finely chopped

300g risotto rice

½ cup white wine

1 chicken/vegetable stock cube

500g mixed mushrooms (chestnut, oyster, shiitake etc)

4 garlic cloves, crushed

Small bunch of fresh thyme

Large knob of butter

40g Parmesan cheese

1 mug boiling water

½ lemon

½ small bunch flat-leaf parsley

Heat a large high-sided saucepan on a medium heat. Add the olive oil, onion, celery, porcini mushrooms and half the garlic, stirring regularly. Turn the grill to high.

Add the rice and rosemary leaves to the pan. Stir well for 1 min, then pour in the white wine and crumble in the stock cube, stirring until the wine is absorbed. Season and add a mug of boiling water. Stir well.

Add half the mushrooms to the pan and reduce the heat to a simmer. Continue to add boiling water or stock every minute or so for about 15-18 minutes.

Add the remaining mushrooms to a frying pan over a high heat, together with extra virgin olive oil and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Crush over 4 cloves of garlic. Add half the leaves from the thyme to the pan, stir them in, then take off the heat. Pick the remaining leaves and add to the risotto.

Put the frying pan in the grill on the top shelf. Continue to stir the risotto. Remove the frying pan when mushrooms are gold and crispy.

When the risotto is porridge-like, stir in the butter and finely grate over most of the parmesan. Add a good squeeze of lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Add water or stock if needed.

Serve and garnish with the crispy mushrooms, parsley and some grated parmesan.

Cuisine: Italian/Vegetarian

Source: “Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals” by Jamie Oliver

Rating: Five stars