Risotto with wild mushrooms and shallots

Risotto is a really classic Italian dish of rice with stock slowly stirred into it to make it super creamy. It is usually finished with some kind of cheese such as parmesan. Below is a recipe that I tested out the other day that turned out really great. If there isn’t a specific amount of something in the ingredient list, it’s because I added it to taste. I didn’t add salt and pepper to the list either, because salt and pepper should go into almost everything. When I made this, I was really proud of how it turned out, so I thought I would share it.

So the first thing to do with ANY recipe is to gather your mise en place (Meese-en-plahs), which in French means “everything in place,” more commonly known as prep.

Here’s what I used for this dish.

Arborio Rice (1 ½ cups)

Stock (Chicken- 6 cups)

½ medium onion, small dice

Enough butter

¼ cup parmesan cheese, grated

crème fraiche

Wild mushrooms (black trumpets or hedgehogs are preferred)

1 Shallot thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, fine mince

Thyme, Tarragon, Finely Chopped

The first thing to do is put your stock on to boil. Once it boils, reduce it down to the lowest setting to keep it hot, but not simmering. It is really important for the stock to be hot, or it won’t absorb properly into the rice. In a separate pan, melt about 4 tbsp of butter and make it hot. When it is hot and totally melted, add the onions. They should sizzle when they hit the pan. If they don’t, let your butter get hotter.

You want to do this over medium heat so as not to brown your onions. You just want them to sweat and get translucent. When they are translucent, add your rice. Let it absorb the butter and get a little toasted. When all the fat is absorbed, add 1 cup of the stock to the rice and stir constantly until only a couple of tablespoons of stock are left. Don’t rush the rice. This process will take you about 15 minutes to complete.

Keep adding stock in this manner until you have added 5 cups of stock. Taste the rice. If it is still too firm, crunchy, or hard, add more stock. Alternatively, at this point (right before it is done) you can spread out the rice into a shallow pan to cool, saving it for later, ready to finish up in just a few minutes. This is what a lot of restaurants do, to make the cook time of the risotto much shorter for service.

The last thing to do before totally finishing the risotto is to cook the mushrooms, shallots, and garlic. Add about 4 tbsp of butter to a sauté pan and make hot. Add the mushrooms and cook them until they are caramelized (nice darker golden brown color). At this point add the shallots (making sure that they are THINLY sliced-see picture below) and garlic. Cook for about a minute until translucent. If the garlic is brown, the heat was too high. Set aside the mushroom mixture.

To finish the risotto: When the rice is cooked through, remove the risotto from the heat. Add parmesan cheese, 2 tbsp of butter, and a dollop of crème fraiche. Stir in to melt. Fold in mushroom mixture and serve hot. The risotto should spread out slightly when place on a flat plate, but should not be runny. This is what it should look like when it is finished.

My chosen service vessels today were little demitasse cups on plates with adorable little doilies. I garnished with some reserved sautéed mushrooms and sliced chives.

I know that it’s a complex looking procedure, but really, it’s pretty simple once you get the hang of it.

Have fun.

-Tim

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