Pasta & risotto Italian
Mushroom risotto
A creamy Italian risotto made with dried porcini and fresh button mushrooms, built up with hot stock one ladle at a time.
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 37 min
- Serves
- 4
- Difficulty
- Medium
A proper mushroom risotto has no cream in it. That velvety texture comes from the starch in arborio rice, hot stock added patiently ladle by ladle, and a final beating-in of cold butter and parmesan. Dried porcini bring a deep, woodsy flavour – and their soaking liquid is liquid gold, so don't pour it away.
Porcini are foraged wild mushrooms, so only buy dried porcini in labelled packs from a trusted supplier. The fresh button mushrooms add body and a softer texture.
Ingredients
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Mushrooms
Risotto
To serve
Method
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Put the dried porcini in a bowl, pour over 300 ml hot water and leave to soak for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, slice the button mushrooms and very finely chop the onion and garlic. Lift out the softened porcini, squeeze them dry and chop roughly. Strain the soaking liquid through kitchen paper, leaving any grit behind, add it to the stock and keep it hot over a low heat.
~20 min -
Heat 1 tbsp of the olive oil in a wide, heavy-based pan over a high heat. Fry the button mushrooms for 5–6 minutes until their liquid has gone and they're golden, season and set aside on a plate.
~6 min -
Turn the heat down to medium and add the remaining olive oil and 1 tbsp butter. Cook the onion gently for 4–5 minutes until soft and translucent but not coloured, then add the garlic and chopped porcini and stir for a minute.
~5 min -
Add the rice and stir constantly for 2–3 minutes until every grain is coated in fat and turns translucent at the edges, with a small white dot in the centre.
~3 min -
Pour in the wine and stir until it has bubbled away completely. If you're not using wine, add a ladle of hot stock instead and save the lemon juice for the end.
~2 min -
Add the hot stock a ladleful at a time, stirring often and waiting until each addition is almost absorbed before adding the next. Keep the heat at medium-low so it simmers gently. After 16–18 minutes the rice should be tender with a slight bite in the centre, and the risotto loose enough to ripple when you shake the pan. You may not need all the stock.
~18 min -
Take the pan off the heat. Add the fried mushrooms, the cold diced butter and the parmesan and beat vigorously for a minute until creamy – the Italians call this mantecatura. Add the lemon juice now if you skipped the wine. Season, cover and rest for 2 minutes, then serve straight away with parsley and more parmesan.
~3 min
Enjoy!
The mushroom in this recipe
Mushroom swaps
Dried shiitake Lentinula edodesUse the same weight if you can't find porcini; the flavour is smokier.- Chestnut / cremini mushroom Agaricus bisporusIn place of the fresh button mushrooms; darker and more aromatic.
Oyster mushroom Pleurotus ostreatusUse as the fresh mushroom; fry until crisp and spoon on top at the end.
Tips
- Keep the stock hot – cold liquid stalls the cooking and spoils the texture.
- Buy porcini only from a reliable source, and strain the soaking liquid through kitchen paper to get rid of any grit.
- It should spread gently on the plate; if it's tightened up, loosen it with a splash of stock just before serving.
- For a vegetarian version use vegetable stock and a hard cheese made without animal rennet.
Storage
Risotto is best eaten as soon as it's made, as it thickens on standing. Cool leftovers quickly, refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 1 day and reheat once only, with a splash of stock, until piping hot. Leftovers also make great arancini.
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Kitchen guides
Before you cook: clean, store, dry
How to clean mushroomsPractical ways to clean everything from button mushrooms to morels without waterlogging them or ruining their texture.
How to store mushroomsHow to keep fresh, cooked, frozen and dried mushrooms at their best — and how to tell when they’ve gone bad.
How to dry mushroomsA step-by-step guide to drying mushrooms at home in the oven, in a dehydrator or on a string — and how to store and rehydrate them.