Mushroom risotto

Risotto is Italian rice cooked in a broth to a creamy consistency. It is not difficult to make risotto at home but it IS tedious, usually entailing standing in front of the stove for a good 30-40 minutes.


Mushroom risotto (serves 4)

1.5cup of Carnaroli rice
400ml chicken stock
300ml hot water
5 dried mushrooms
200g mixed mushrooms thinly sliced - portobelllo, shitake, brown button
30g butter
1 medium onion diced
5 cloves garlic minced
1/3 cup cognac/dry white wine

Soak dried mushrooms in hot water for 10 minutes. Snip off the stems using a pair of kitchen shears. Sieve the mushroom water into the pot containing chicken stock. Add mushroom stems to the pot. Dice the dried mushroom caps. Heat chicken-mushroom stock to slow simmer.

Meanwhile, melt butter in saucepan. Saute onion at low heat for 5 minutes. Do not brown the onions. Add garlic and dried mushrooms to pan. Saute for another 2 minutes. Add fresh mushrooms into pan and saute for another 3 minutes.

Add rice (do not wash the rice) to pan. Saute at medium high heat for at least 2-3 minutes, till rice turns translucent. Add cognac/wine to pan. Continue to saute at medium heat till all the wine has evaporated.

Bring the pan to low heat and add a ladle of stock to rice mixture in pan, stirring often. Add another ladle of stock when the liquid in the pan has evaporated. Continue adding ladle by ladle till rice is al dente. This will take around 20-25 minutes, depending on type of rice used. Stirring helps release the starch from the rice, making the risotto creamy.

Season with (truffle) salt and pepper when rice is done. Turn off the heat and add shaved Parmesan cheese to risotto. Cover the pan for 2-3 minutes. Stir and serve immediately.

The risotto was al dente and creamy, not too wet. However, I feel that the flavor of the mushroom could be stronger, may be Porcini mushrooms will help. O wells, till next time.