Ingredients
- 50g/ 1.7oz dried porcini mushrooms
- 1 litre/33fl oz chicken or veg stock, hot
- 50g/1.7oz butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion, peeled and finely sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced
- 200g/7oz wild mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
- 400g/14oz Arborio rice
- 1 glass white wine
- Salt and pepper
- 1 lemon, juice only
- 4 sprigs thyme
- 50g/ 1.7oz Parmesan, grated
Directions
- Add the dried porcini mushrooms to a bowl and spoon over a ladleful of hot stock. Soak for about 15 minutes before removing from the stock. Slice the mushrooms and leave to the side. Add any stock leftover back into the pot.
- Heat a large frying plan and add half the butter and all of the oil. Add the onion and garlic and sauté until softened but not coloured. Add all of the mushrooms and fry off for several minutes, until soft.
- Add the rice and stir until each grain is coated. Pour in the glass of white wine, fry off for a minute or two before adding a ladleful of hot stock. Stir and repeat, adding more stock slowly each time the rice has soaked it all up. Continue to cook for about 30 minutes or until the rice is cooked. Season, add the lemon juice, the rest of the butter and thyme and serve with some freshly grated Parmesan.
Tips
The secret to a great risotto is to continue adding the hot stock slowly, stirring as you go, until the rice is just cooked. This takes time. For extra flavour, try frying the mushrooms on their own separately, before adding them in.
To check if your rice is cooked, bite into a grain. The centre of the rice should only be a little bit white, with a bit of a bite, aka ‘al dente’
