No Fuss Mushroom Risotto
Shopping List:
2 cups of Arborio rice
4 - 6 cups of any kind of broth
½ onion, white or yellow - chopped
1 spoon full of butter
1 glug of olive oil
2 cloves of garlic or a spoon full of pre-minced garlic
1 lb of mushrooms, your choice of type
½ cup of any wine laying around - white or red but NOT sparkling
¼ cup of grated parmesan
Black pepper
Kosher salt
Bits of parsley if you want to be fancy towards the end
THE SHORT STORY:
First chop your mushrooms by either cutting them in quarters or slice them with the stem facing up towards you.
Heat up your favorite saute pan (don’t use a frying pan) to a med - high heat and add a spoonful of butter as well as a small glug of olive oil. Once the butter is fully melted and the pan is completely coated with the butter/olive oil mixture, add a spoonful of minced garlic
With a wooden spoon, stir the garlic in the pan for no more than 30 seconds then add the chopped mushrooms. Add your preference of black pepper and salt then stir the mushrooms so it is coated in the butter/olive oil/garlic mixture - a minute or two.
Let the mushrooms cook down for about 5 - 10 minutes, stirring occasionally
While mushrooms are cooking, dice half an onion
Transfer cooked mushrooms to a bowl and set aside
Using the same saute pan, return it back to the heat and add a glug of olive oil then add the diced onions.
Stir the onions for about a minute then add 2 cups of risotto rice. Add another dash or two of both salt and pepper then stir the rice and onion mixture so everything is coated in the olive oil for about another minute
Now is the time to add the broth - lower the heat to medium and start with one full cup’s worth of broth, stir gently while the liquid gets absorbed. After a good chunk of the broth has been absorbed, continue adding a ½ cups worth of broth into the pan and repeat the process.
Before adding the last ½ cup of broth into the pan, pour a good glug of wine into the rice and stir. The wine will get absorbed a lot faster than the broth so once the wine looks like it’s good and incorporated (like two minutes), then add the final ½ cup of broth
A few minutes after adding the last of the broth, pour the cooked mushrooms and all the juices into the pan, stirring gently.
Stir in the grated parmesan that will cause the rice to thicken into the signature risotto texture as well as any final salt and pepper to your tasting
Serve with a sprinkling of parsley if you want to be fancy and enjoy it with a good baguette.
PICS OR IT DIDN’T HAPPEN:
THE LONG STORY
Now I imagine anyone who has made mushroom risotto before will probably bicker that I didn’t add my broth one ladle at a time or the fact that I didn’t specify what kind of broth, mushrooms or any other ingredient to use. Cooking is a chemistry class where in the end the only grade that matters is the one you gave yourself - cheesy, yes but I make it this way because I like it this way.
Change the order, method or ingredients if you like but this is how I make it.
Broth: I keep changing the type of broths I use for my risottos because I haven’t settled on a perfect one yet. I’ve used chicken, vegetable, beef and mushroom broths - the next time I will make this will be with bone broth. I’ll update this section once I decide the best broth for this recipe.
Mushrooms: Button is king. They are cheaper, plentiful and cleaner than any other mushroom. Super easy to chop, taste fantastic and brown up beautifully. I’ve made risottos using more expensive mushrooms and the worst one I’ve found is Chanterelle. Chanterelles are super pretty but also super dirty - some dirt is totally fine but a few pine needles seem to always find themselves in my risotto no matter how hard I rinse Chanterelle mushrooms.
Onions: My go-to is yellow, they have a sweeter taste and don’t make you cry as much as a white onion. I’ve never tried risotto with red onions but not sure if I want to - red onions are known to have a sharper flavor compared to others.
Rice: There are several kinds of ‘risotto’ rice out there but 99% of the time it will be Arborio. Supposedly the perfect risotto rice is Carnaroli however good luck finding it, it’s a super niche grain that very few stores will carry.
Garlic: I’m guilty that I use pre-minced garlic in a jar. Garlic isn’t fun to chop or mince but I do know there is a significant taste difference between the two. Fresh garlic is stronger than watered down jarred garlic so if you have the patience, use fresh.
Red vs White Wine: As long as it’s not a super expensive wine (and I mean don’t use anything above $30 for cooking), it doesn’t matter if you use red or white. I’ve done both and found that red gives a richer flavor where a white wine gives a brighter flavor. Personally, I prefer red wine but I typically pour a good glug of whatever wine Mr. Mustang and I were drinking at that time during cooking. I hope it goes without saying, don’t use sparkling wine - I tried it once for a ‘what if’ experiment and it was awful. Too much sugar in the wine threw off the final risotto flavors.
Parmesan: Once again I’m guilty using the pre-grated parm in a bag. Freshly grated parm is certainly better but if you are making this on a Tuesday evening after a long day, I can understand wanting to get the prepackaged stuff since this dish takes about an hour to make anyways.