Mushroom Risotto

Risotto is a delightful one-pot Northern Italian rice dish. The risotto rice is gently cooked in stock until it has a lovely creamy texture. There are many different types of risottos. My recipe here only uses mushrooms, but it can be made with other vegetables, meat or seafood as well. I love that it is very quick and easy to prepare and tastes so satisfying.

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 30 mins

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp. oil
• 60g butter
• 4-5 garlic cloves, crushed
• 550g Italian risotto rice – Arborio
• 200ml white wine
• 1 ½ vegetable stock cubes
• 875ml hot water
• 225g chestnut mushrooms, chopped
• 1 red chilli finely sliced
• 50g/1oz freshly grate Gran Padano or parmesan cheese
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Fresh parsley to garnish

Instructions

In a glass jug make up the vegetable stock – crumble the stock cubes in the hot water and stir well.

Then heat oil and butter in another pan and stir in the garlic.

Add your mushrooms and stir and cook for a couple of minutes.

Next add in your risotto rice, stirring quickly and sauté until rice looks a little translucent.

Pour in the wine and cook until the wine has been mostly absorbed.

Stir in your chopped red chilli.

Add a ladleful of stock. Stirring often, cook until the rice has mostly absorbed the stock.

Then add another ladleful of stock, continuing to allow the rice to absorb each addition of stock before adding more.

Keep stirring until the risotto is nice and creamy, not mushy.

Finally, stir in cheese and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Garnish with parsley and serve hot.