Really Easy Mushroom Risotto
Risotto's get a lot of bad press. They do need you to keep an eye on them and they can sometimes cause trouble but when you have the hang of it they're a really tasty comfort dish and you can really use any ingredients you like. I love mushrooms so I tend to make a mushroom one, you'll need:
- Mushrooms
- Arborio Risotto Rice
- Brown Onion
- Garlic
- Dried mushroom stock
- White Wine
- Parmesan
- Salt
- Pepper
- Olive Oil
- Double Cream
Soften an onion with a couple of cloves of garlic in some olive oil on a low - medium heat. All you want to do is soften them, so do not get any colour on them. Keep them low for a few minutes, when they're translucent add the rice (half a pack is more than enough for two & will yield leftovers and we're greedy gits), give the rice a couple of minutes and then add your dried mushroom stock (you can use vegetable stock instead if you want) - don't add too much, enough so the rice is swimming but not drowning. Leave on a low heat for a few minutes and when it's drunk that add a glass of white wine and some more stock, keep going until the rice is starting to swell. In your last stage of the risotto (the rice needs to still be slightly al dente, in need of some more stuck but having grown in size) add your chopped mushrooms, you can cook them in a separate pan if you want but they cook perfectly adding them in at this point. The mushrooms will give off a lot of juice which will enrich the risotto but also means that you need to make sure the risotto is at the right stage before adding them in so it's not overly juicy at the end. You can use any mushrooms you want, wild mushrooms are great but expensive. I find a chestnut mushroom works really well. When the rice is cooked and the mushrooms cooked well I leave it for about 5 minutes to cool off slightly (as it retains heat a little too well) and then add a handful or parmesan and a couple of tablespoons of double cream with salt and pepper to taste. Omitting the mushrooms, peas and prawns work really well and so does asparagus and parmesan, don't be afraid & enjoy!