A good risotto is a thing of beauty, it can be a delicious meal or side dish. This mushroom risotto is creamy, rich, and delicious and is perfect for a special occasion.
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Credit: Shutterstock​

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 ounces (around 250 grams) sliced mushrooms
1 cup arborio rice
2 cups chicken broth
3/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
Salt and pepper, to taste

To serve:

Finely chopped parsley or chives
Freshly grated Parmesan (optional)

Instructions:

1. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.

2. Add the mushrooms and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.

3. Add the garlic and butter and cook until fragrant.

4. Add white wine and scrape down the pan until everything is nicely incorporated. Add the rice and stir for 1 minute, so it is coated in the mixture.

5. Add the chicken broth in 1/2 cup increments, stirring well each time until the broth is absorbed (around 5 minutes). Continue this process until the rice is cooked to your liking.

6. Add Parmesan, salt and pepper and stir vigorously to make it creamy.

7. Serve into bowls while hot and add parsley and extra Parmesan if desired.

For my fellow food history buffs out there, according to Wikipedia: "Rice has been grown in southern Italy since the 14th century, and its cultivation eventually reached Milan in the north. While according to a legend, a young glassblower's apprentice of the Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano from Flanders, who used to use saffron as a pigment, added it to a rice dish at a wedding feast, the first recipe identifiable as risotto dates from 1809. It includes rice sautéed in butter, sausages, bone marrow, onions with broth with saffron gradually added. There is a recipe for a dish named risotto in the 1854 Trattato di Cucina ('Treatise on Cooking') by Giovanni Vialardi, assistant chief chef to kings. However, the question of who invented the risotto in Milan remains unanswered today."​

 

[Ricci]

Love a good risotto but mushrooms? Who in their right mind would willingly eat fungus?! Made with a different filling I could sure go for this.

 

[leanneh]

I learnt two easy tips for making perfect risotto from Curtis Stone on his programme years ago. Always add warm stock not cold. There's some scientific reason but I just know it works. I always heat a tetra pack of bought stock in the microwave. The other absolute must is the addition of a small dob of butter just as you serve. It makes it so smooth and glossy and of course extra yuuummmy.