A Gourmet Mushroom Risotto

Photo credit: © Eatwell101.comIt may be the doldrums of winter, but you can combat the cold-weather blues with a bowl of down right comfort food as your best ally. Luxurious, and decadent with an out of this world nutty creaminess, this mushroom risotto is that perfect, hearty, comforting dish for cold winter evenings. A nice fruity chardonnay wine would perfectly complement the rich mix of mushrooms. And while that bottle of wine is cracked open for use in the risotto, it’s the ideal opportunity to enjoy a glass!

Ingredients list for the mushroom risotto

Serve 6: 

• 1/2 lb (250g) Arborio or Carnoli rice
• 2 onions
• 1 shallot
• 3 pints (1.5 liter) of water
• 2 bouillon cubes
• 1 cup (20 cl) dry white wine — Chardonnay goes well with mushrooms
• 1/2 cup (10 cl) of liquid cream
• 1/2 cup (80g) freshly grated parmesan
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 lb (250g) fresh mushrooms (mixture of paris, porcini, chanterelles…)
• 1 1/2 oz (40 g) dried morels
• 1 1/2 oz  (40g) salted butter

Directions

1. Soak the dried mushrooms in a bowl of warm water for 15 minutes. Drain and strain the juice through a strainer and keep aside.
2. Boil the water in a saucepan and add the bouillon cube to prepare the broth. Peel the onions and shallots and slice them.
3. In a chef pan, heat oil and add the onions, shallots and rice. Mix to sweat the rice and oil onions until they become translucent. Pour a ladle of broth, let the rice absorb it, then add another ladle of broth and so on. Pour the juice of morels in the pan. This process will take approximately up to 15 minutes.
4. Once the rice is almost cooked, add white wine, cream and grated parmesan. Mix and cook for 3 minutes. The rice should be “al dente”.
5. Trim mushrooms, wipe them gently dry using paper towels, then chop roughly. Heat the butter in a skillet and brown mushrooms and morels for 5 minutes then add over the risotto.
6. Serve the risotto very hot with parmesan shavings on top.