A simple, stress-free mushroom risotto, that requires no complicated techniques and still tastes authentic. Ready in less than 30 minutes, this is an ideal recipe for a midweek dinner.
Easy Peasy Foodie is very much a mix of new discoveries and old faithful recipes. On Tuesday I shared one of my new discoveries – my Chicken, Chorizo and Sweet Potato Traybake. Today I am sharing with you a recipe that dates back to my student days (over 15 years ago – eeek! Where did all that time go???)
I can’t remember the original recipe (though I have a feeling it involved a tin of mushroom soup – needless to say I don’t do that anymore!). However, it has since gone through so many transformations and adaptations, it probably bears little resemblance to the original recipe…but it remains most definitely a firm family favourite.
I have tried a few different versions of risotto over the years, but I just keep coming back to this one as I have never managed to make a tastier one!
Now the thing about risotto is it does have a reputation for being tricky and time-consuming. Well, here’s the good news…my version is neither!
What have I done to make life easier for myself? Well, the main thing is that I don’t have a pot of stock bubbling away on my stove from which I lovingly spoon a ladleful of stock into my risotto every few minutes – that, to me, has always just seemed far more hassle than it’s worth. I just chuck all the stock in right from the start and, do you know what? So long as you make sure you do give it a jolly good stir from time to time, there is no real difference in taste and texture from the more labour intensive version!
For me, there are two things that are important when making a risotto. Firstly, you have to use the right rice – you want risotto rice for this, such as carnaroli or arborio. No other rice will do if what you want to achieve is a creamy risotto like consistency – you really don’t want to be using long grain or basmati rice here. But the good news is risotto rice is easily available at the supermarkets these days and so there is no need to go searching in specialist stores. The second thing is the stirring. Regular stirring helps release the starches on the risotto rice and it’s those starches that give risotto that characteristic creamy texture. I don’t find it all that much hassle to give my pot the occasional stir from time to time and it really is worth it! (And for the same reason, don’t rinse risotto rice before using or you will wash all the starch off!!)
And apart from those two pretty simple requirements, this risotto is a total doddle to make – in under 30 minutes and tastes as good as any I’ve had in an Italian restaurant!
You may have noticed I don’t use any wine in this risotto – the reason is quite simple: I usually make my risotto on a weeknight and I don’t generally drink much, if at all, on weeknights – and I’m not going to open a bottle just to add one glass to my risotto! But if you want to add wine to risotto, then do, by all means – add 150ml white wine into the pan straight after you have added in the rice. Cook the rice in the wine for 1 minute and then add the stock (but reduce the quantity of stock down to 850ml).
I have also omitted adding any cream or extra butter in at the end – this is simply in an effort to reduce the calories and make it a bit healthier. I’m more than happy with the creaminess of this risotto, just as it is, and don’t feel the need for any more butter or cream, but if you feel like it, then do go ahead and add a bit of cream or butter (or both) at the end. Promise I won’t judge 😉
As I mentioned above, I usually don’t serve this with wine, as it’s more of a midweek meal for me, but occasionally I have this at the weekend and then I do have wine with it! It goes beautifully with a French Chardonnay – particularly one from the Burgundy region, or for a cheaper alternative, go for a Chardonnay from the South of France or a Chilean one.
If you like this recipe…
…you might also like:
Simple Mushroom Risotto
Ingredients
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic crushed, grated or finely chopped
- 4 large flat mushrooms approx. 300g, chopped roughly
- 20 g butter
- 1 litre vegetable stock or chicken stock if you don’t need this to be veggie, from a cube
- 10 g dried mushrooms
- 300 g risotto rice
- Salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons parsley chopped
- Grated Parmesan to serve or vegetarian parmesan-style cheese, if you need this to be veggie
- Green salad to serve optional
Instructions
- Fry the chopped onions in 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large wide saucepan (lid on) over a gentle heat for 5 minutes until the onions are softened but not brown. Add a clove of garlic and the butter and cook for 1 more minute. Then add the chopped mushrooms, turn up the heat a little and cook for a further 3 minutes.
- Meanwhile make up your vegetable stock using 1 vegetable stock cube and 1 litre of boiling water. Add the dried mushrooms to this mixture and stir thoroughly – set aside to allow the mushrooms to rehydrate and infuse the stock.
- When the mushrooms are ready, stir in the risotto rice and cook for 1 minute, before adding in all of the stock, together with the dried mushrooms and some salt and pepper.
- Turn the heat right down, but leave the lid off. Cook the risotto until almost all the stock has been absorbed (roughly 20 minutes). By this time the rice should be ‘al dente’ – that is, it should be mostly cooked, but with a little bit of bite. Do remember to give the risotto a good stir from time to time, while it is cooking.
- Stir in the parsley and serve sprinkled with parmesan. Add a side salad and some crusty French bread if you wish.
Want to see more Easy Peasy Vegetarian and Vegan recipes? Find more here…
Want more delicious and hassle-free midweek meals? Find more here…
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Yum yum! I love a good risotto, and it’s actually on my menu this week too! I love the idea of putting all the stock in at once. It is annoying have to keep remembering to go back and keep adding more stock or wine, so I may do this technique at some point. X
Oh, it’s so much simpler to just chuck all the stock in at once – though it does rely on having a good recipe, so you know you’re putting in just the right amount of stock – if in doubt don’t quite put all of it in at the beginning and test and see near the end, whether it needs a bit more stock or not. Thanks for your kind comments 🙂 Eb x
I try my best not to count back to my student days now as it’s always a lot more years than I think it should be. I’m always shocked when they announce the 25th/30th anniversaries of events on the news as that much time shouldn’t have gone by!
This risotto sounds lovely Eb, I’ve not tried risotto on the hob without gradually adding the stock before so I really should give this a try as it sounds like a lot less hassle.
It’s a long way back, isn’t it? The thing I really can’t get over, is that it has been 18 years since I was 18 – how is that possible??? And yes, when things that happened in the 80s are having their 30th anniversaries, and I kind of feel like that was about 10 years ago!
The stock all in at the beginning thing was something I just tried because I couldn’t understand the point of ladling it in bit by bit. Apparently there is a tiny bit of science behind it – something to do with more even cooking – but actually, so long as you stir regularly, that shouldn’t be a problem. And the other thing is obviously making sure you don’t put too much stock in at the beginning – but all you need is a good recipe and then that shouldn’t be a problem either. And I seriously can’t tell the difference (and all that wine training taught me to be good at being discerning about such things!), so I don’t really see what the point is! Try it – would love to know what you think and whether you agree with me! Eb x
I love mushroom risotto Eb, and this sounds and looks gorgeous. I too never put alcohol cream or butter into our mixture and still find that it’s full of flavour and creaminess…..allows us to save a few calories for a slice of cake afterwards 😉
Like Charlotte and Jessica, I too have always drip fed the warm stock into the risotto pan and constantly stirred it so I shall certainly have to give your method a try.
Angela x
Thank you – I think if you have the right rice and nice ingredients in the risotto, it just doesn’t need the wine or cream/ extra butter. I do put a little butter in at the beginning – but that’s just personal preference as I like the flavour of mushrooms cooked in butter. I like your thinking there about saving the calories for cake!!
I’d love to know what you think about the ‘tip all the stock into the pan’ method – I can’t tell the difference – I’d love to know whether you think you can or not – ooooh just realised there’s fodder there for a side-by-side experiment!! 😉
Eb x
It had crossed my mind too about the side by side thing 😉
Angela x
Sounds gorgeous and I like your tip of chucking all the stock in at the start. Absolutely going to try that next time I make risotto! #CookBlogShare
Thanks, Mandy! Oh do! And let me know what you think!?! 🙂 Eb x
I love risotto. I think I’d love your version as its simple and quick 🙂 Thanks for sharing it with #CookBlogShare
Thanks, Hayley – simple and quick is what I do best! 🙂 Eb x
My first attempt at making risotto and it went down a treat with my husband and sister in law. My best friend makes an awesome risotto and happy to say mine was almost as good. I used non alcoholic chardonnay and it gave a nice taste to the rice. I chose to add some extra butter at the end. I thoughr making risotto was going to be a big deal, but you made it easy. Thanks for the recipe, it’s a keeper.
Yay! I am so happy to hear that and thank you so much for the 5 STAR RATING!! Eb 🙂