Risotto with Mushrooms

Once you have mastered the pattern for making risotto there is really no need at all to consult recipes. However, with my habit of turning over the pages of cookery books, I am always finding other recipes that I think I might try out just in case the slight difference might give a worthwhile variation.  This mushroom risotto was different only in the fact that it cooked the mushrooms first and added them later in the cooking process.

I took 1/4 cup dried porcini mushrooms and soaked them in a little more than a cup of boiling water. They were left to soak while I continued with the remainder of the dish.

I sliced 150g button mushrooms and sauteed them in 30g butter and a little olive oil. When they had browned they were taken off the heat, a little lemon juice was added and some chopped parsley. This was put aside.

In the same pan that the mushrooms had been cooked I added another 30g butter with some more olive oil. A chopped onion was added and cooked until soft. A cup of arborio rice went in and was stirred around until it was well coated with the oils.

The dried mushrooms were drained and the water saved. The porcini water was added to stock gently simmering on the stove. The mushrooms, both dried and fried, were added to the rice. I also added some oyster mushrooms that were left over from another dish. Once everything was well mixed in the pan 1/3 cup white wine was stirred in until it was absorbed.

Now began the final process of adding a ladle of the simmering stock to the rice. When it was almost absorbed another ladle went in and so on until the rice was done. The heat was turned off and about a tablespoon butter was added and 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese stirred in. The risotto was covered and left to stand for a minute or two before serving.

Mushrooms are perfect in risotto. Their rich, rather meaty flavour works so well with the rice.

Taste: ✔✔✔
Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

There was risotto left over so the following evening it was formed into rissole shapes, dipped in flour, then beaten egg and finally breadcrumbs. It was shallow fried to make tasty, crunchy coated rissoles to have with vegetables.

Pumpkin & Pistachio Risotto

From Perfect Risotto, Hermes House, 2004.

I had a little butternut pumpkin left over so decided to use it in this risotto dish.

Firstly I put a saucepan of vegetable stock on to warm up and into it I dropped a pinch of saffron.

An onion and a garlic clove, both chopped, were cooked gently in olive oil in a large frying pan. After about 5 minutes they had softened and 225g Arborio rice was stirred in until it was well coated with the oil. Now 450g pumpkin cut into 2cm dice joined the rice and was cooked for a couple of minutes more. About ¼ cup white wine was added and cooked until it was almost gone. Now began the addition of the stock a ladle at a time until it had been absorbed.

When the rice and pumpkin were cooked about ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese was added, the heat turned off and the pan covered for about 5 more minutes.

Before serving, 25g pistachios were added with a little chopped fresh oregano and seasoning to taste.

This was a useful way in which to finish off the little pumpkin that was left. It was an okay risotto.If you are a pumpkin fan then it's a great risotto.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

Risotto with Mushrooms

From Perfect Risotto, Hermes House, 2004.

When a book has the adjective ‘perfect’ in it then you expect something really special. Mind you, it’s dicey adding that to the title when the perfection must depend partly on the person making the dish. For me, this dish did not turn out to be perfect, it was pretty good but perfect, no. I lay the disappointment on the use of lemon.

To begin I soaked about ½ cup dried porcini mushrooms in hot water for almost ¾ of an hour. Meanwhile I sliced a little over 2 cups of button mushrooms, placed them in a bowl and mixed the juice of ½ lemon with them. The mushrooms were cooked in a knob of butter until they had browned. I then added a handful of finely chopped parsley.

Now a pot of stock was put on to simmer and the porcini mushrooms were drained, adding the mushroom water to the stock.

An onion was chopped and added to a frying pan with a knob of butter and some olive oil. When the onion had softened, I added 1½ cups Arborio rice and stirred until the rice was well coated with the oil. Now were added the porcini mushrooms and the cooked mushrooms and stirred in.

The stock was now added a ladle at a time, waiting for each ladleful to be absorbed before the next. When the rice was cooked a knob of butter and some grated Parmesan cheese were stirred in and the risotto was served.

I found that the lemon juice had come through a little too strongly and slightly overpowered the mushrooms. I don’t think lemon and mushroom is a particularly good mix. The risotto was all right, though it would have been so much better without the lemon flavour.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

Pepper and Courgette Risotto with Vermouth

From Perfect Risotto, Hermes House, 2004.

I do enjoy a risotto and hence cook them frequently enough to have mastered the basic cooking technique. When I use a cookery book it’s to try out a different mix of ingredients and their quantities. Once I have them it’s a reasonably simple matter to go ahead with the cooking.

For this recipe it needed two courgettes and one green capsicum with 250g of basmati rice. I used a little less than 200g because I generally prefer my risotto to have a balance that has a larger quantity of other ingredients to the rice. Dry white vermouth was needed for the final touch.

Unusually, this recipe used no white wine after frying the onion and garlic but went straight into using stock. The chopped vegetables were added at the second addition of stock.

When the rice was cooked grated parmesan was added together with a tablespoon of vermouth.

This was a risotto with plenty of flavour. The courgettes went really well with the rice and the vermouth added an overtone that was quite interesting.

The book is a small 64-page paperback that was picked up at one of those cheap book stalls that occasionally pop up at shopping centres. I seem to have several in my collection as I just don’t seem to be able to pass by cookery books on sale. While it is not a vegetarian cook book most of the recipes are vegetarian, including a good mix and some that look definitely worth trying.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔