Mushroom Risotto

Risotto is perfect winter food. Making and eating it warms you up. It has a reputation as hard work, but it really just requires a little attention and once you've mastered the basic risotto bianco, the possibilities are endless. You can prepare your mushrooms however you like and just throw them in when you stir in the cheese and butter, or even add them raw halfway through the cooking time. You can omit the celery, but it means you can use a little less rice. You can also use barley instead of rice. The method is similar, here is Maggie's version.  

Ingredients:

olive oil 

1 onion, finely chopped

3 celery sticks, finely chopped

1 1/2 cups aborio or other risotto rice

half a cup of dry white wine 

1 litre vegetable stock  

400g mushroom, one type or a mix i.e. swiss brown, slippery jack, field mushrooms 

30g porcini mushrooms, soaked in boiling water (to cover) for 15-20 minutes then drained and finely chopped. 

1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

1 handful parsley, finely chopped

squeeze of lemon

knob of butter

handful of freshly grated parmesan 

salt and pepper

Method:

Soffritto (sauté on a low heat for 15 or so minutes) the onion and celery in a splash of olive oil. Add the rice and stir over a medium heat for three minutes or until rice is partially translucent. Add the wine and stir, allow to evaporate before adding a ladleful or two of hot stock. Massage the rice to release the starch, place on a low heat, you want to stock to be a gentle simmer, so the rice cooks but is not hard in the middle and fluffy on the outside. Add a ladleful or two of stock as he liquid evaporates. Make Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200 degrees, peel the mushrooms or wipe them tith a damp cloth, chop into even sized chunks, douse in olive oil and place in the oven for 3-5 minutes. Reomove stir in garlic, salt, pepper, a little butter and return to the oven for another 3 minutes. Remove and stir in parlsey, set aside. Keep adding stock until the rice has swelled, released its starch, it should be soft but have a little bit if bite. Add a little more stock (or boiling water if you are out of stock) to make it a little more liquidy than you would like. take it off the heat, stir in butter, cheese, and 1/3 of the mushrooms and porcini mushrooms. Put the lid back on and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Ladle into serving bowls, divide remaining mushrooms among the bowls and some extra parmesan if desired.

Serves 4

A little Jamie, a little Maggie