Magically Delicious Mushroom Risotto

When I make risotto, I like to load on the mushrooms. Mushrooms have always been a favourite food of mine. I love eating them raw, sauted simply with a little salt and butter, roasted in the oven, mixed in stirfries and pretty much almost any way you can imagine. Don't try to sneak me any from a can though - I don't consider those even a poor relation!

Fresh, dried or both... mushrooms are key for me in risotto. Though I have strayed many a time, trying pear risottos, squash risottos, beet risottos and more, inevitably I am always disappointed returning to my tried and true mushroom risotto.

Risotto is time consuming to make properly, its true, but not too complex in its preparation. All you need is vegetable stock, mushrooms, aborio rice, parmesan cheese and a splash of white wine to make this impressive dish. While you can certainly make this dish sans butter, I find its one of those dishes that tastes better for the addition of a little. If you don't eat dairy, substitute olive oil for the butter and omit the parmesan cheese (it is awesome but optional) .

 

There is nothing like homemade risotto.

Mushroom Mixture Preparation

6 cups mushrooms, sliced
2 tbsp butter (unsalted)
3/4 tsp salt

1. Heat butter over medium to high heat
2. Add mushrooms and salt and saute until mushrooms have released all liquid and begin to turn golden (~ 10-15 minutes).

Risotto

Mushroom mixture
1 tbsp butter
1 cup aborio rice
1/2 cup white wine
1 litre vegetable stock + additional boiling water as needed (I used an additional 1 1/4 cups)
1/4 cup mixed dried mushrooms (optional but yum)
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish

1. Prepare mushrooms as above
2. Bring vegetable stock to a boil and reduce to simmer. Add in dried mushrooms for some extra flavour.
3. Melt butter and add rice, toasting until translucent on low-medium heat (~2 minutes)
4. Add wine and stir until absorbed
5. Add stock 1/4 cup at a time, stirring often in figure eight pattern. Wait until all liquid is absorbed before adding more. Continue in this fashion until rice is tender (not overcooked, should still be firm) and creamy (~25-30 minutes)
6. Add mushroom mixture and stir in
7. Remove from heat, add parmesan cheese and stir to combine