Ferocious (or should I say ‘Wild‘) Mushroom Risotto (Rice & Pasta Dishes)

Member Name: loulou6

Product:	Rice & Pasta Dishes
Date:	29/10/01 (411 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: comfort food

Disadvantages: a little stodgy

When I’m feeling a little low or a bit under the weather I find that Risotto is one of the most soothing, comforting dishes. You can just keep spooning it onto your plate, and you know that it’s going to fill you up without the extra calories. This recipe is extremely simple (even I don’t need to check the method any more) that even kids (with supervision) could make it.

The basic ingredients that are common to all risottos are butter, Arborio (or Italian) rice, saffron and stock. To these you can add any type of vegetable or meat (basically it’s your choice) to make an endless variety of risottos: chicken, asparagus, lamb, mushrooms, fresh or sun-dried tomatoes, you could even try spring onions.

But this is my favourite risotto, it’s cheap and cheerful, and you can have it ready in 40 minutes.

Ingredients :-

2oz (50g) butter (I’ve found that ‘Shirgar Welsh’ made by St.Ivel is perfect)
1 small onion finely chopped
12oz (350g) risotto rice (you can just use wild rice)
4 fl oz (115ml) dry white wine (drink the rest of it while cooking!)
1lb (450g) wild mushrooms thinly sliced (I’ve tried it with chestnut mushrooms and it still works)
3 pints (1.5litres) boiling vegetable stock (seems like a lot, but it does boil down)
saffron
salt and pepper

(to serve - knob of butter, parmesan (or strong cheddar) cheese, parsley)

Method :-

• Melt the butter in a large frying pan (or saucepan) and fry the onion until soft and golden.

• Add the rice, stirring well with a wooden spoon until all the grains are glistening and see-through. Pour in the wine and turn up the heat. Boil the gloopy mess quickly until it reduces.

• Add the mushrooms and stir gently until they are coated with oil.

• Add some (about a pint) of the boiling stock immediately with the saffron, and
cook over a moderate heat, stirring from time to time. Add more stock as and when it is needed - the rice will absorb it gradually. When the rice is tender and looking creamy and all the stock has been absorbed, remove the pan from the heat. Season to taste and stir in the butter and parmesan (or cheddar) cheese. Sprinkle with parsley and serve the risotto piping hot.

I’ve been making this for over 7 years now and I’ve added things and taken other things away, if you haven’t got some of the ingredients it doesn’t really matter - do what I do and make do (lots of do’s for you there!). I really love this recipe, I hope you do too.

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