Serves

4

Preperation

Clean the mushrooms

Cooking Time

40 minutes (it's worth the time!)

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Starters: Mushroom Risotto

Ingredients

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

2 small garlic cloves, finely chopped

50g dried porcini mushrooms

50g shiitake mushrooms

200g pack chestnut mushrooms, chopped

300g risotto rice, such as arborio

175ml glass white wine

25g butter

Handful parsley leaves, finely chopped

50g Grana Padano, freshly grated

Method

  1. Put the dried porcini mushrooms into a large bowl and pour over 1 litre boiling water. Soak for 20 mins, then drain into a bowl, discarding the last few tbsp of liquid left in the bowl.
  2. Crumble 1 vegetable stock cube into the mushroom liquid, then squeeze the mushrooms gently to remove any liquid.
  3. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a shallow saucepan or deep frying pan over a medium flame.
  4. Add 1 finely chopped onion and 2 finely chopped garlic cloves, then fry for about 5 mins until soft.Stir in the chopped chestnut mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms and the dried mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and continue to cook for 8 mins until the fresh mushrooms have softened.
  5. Tip the risotto rice into the pan and cook for 1 min. Pour over a 175ml glass of white wine and let it bubble to nothing so the alcohol evaporates.
  6. Keep the pan over a medium heat and pour in a quarter of the mushroom stock. Simmer the rice, stirring often, until the rice has absorbed all the liquid.
  7. Add about the same amount of stock again and continue to simmer and stir - it should start to become creamy, plump and tender. By the time the final quarter of stock is added, the rice should be almost cooked.
  8. Continue stirring until the rice is cooked. If the rice is still undercooked, add a splash of water.
  9. Take the pan off the heat, add the butter and scatter over 25g ofgrated Grana Padano cheese and half a handfull of chopped parsley leaves.Cover and leave for a few minutes so that the rice can take up any excess liquid as it cools a bit.
  10. Give the risotto a final stir, spoon into bowls and scatter with the remaining 25g grated cheese and the remaining chopped parsley leaves.