I am an absolute lover of risotto. I not only love to eat risotto, but I love making risotto as well. It is a process but stay with my here. Do not go run away. It is a very simple process. It does take about 20-30 minutes from start to finish; however, it is very easy to make other dishes while you’re stirring away at your risotto.
My favorite risotto of all time, especially this time of year is wild mushroom risotto. I am a huge mushroom fan and I love to mix in fresh herbs like thyme and basil to help make things more seasonal in flavor. I love thyme and basil for this time of year because we are getting into the little bit of cooler weather, which is where the thyme comes in. Yet, the days are still warmer, and we still are getting a lot of fresh basil, so let’s use it up!
What kind of rice do you use for risotto?
My favorite type of rice to use for risotto is arborio rice. The reason that this rice is my favorite is the final product results with this rice are my absolute favorite. You can also use Carnaroli rice. This is more known as a paella rice. Yet, it will also yield a great risotto.
Both of these are great for risotto because they are a short grain, starchy rice. These are the things that give risotto that beautiful creamy texture. If you have a long grain, not very starchy rice, you will not get that slow release of starch to bring out that creamy texture.
What kind of liquid should I use?
The real basic answer here is ANY! Yes, you heard me right, ANY! You can use any stock or even water. Here it is not as important of the flavor of the liquid, even though you can pair your flavors of liquid with your flavors of risotto to help compliment your flavors. Yet, as far as texture or final product goes, the type of liquid will not make much difference.
The temperature of the liquid you use is what really matters. You want to use warm to slight hot liquid in your risotto. The reason for this is that you want to slowly release the starch. If you are cooling down the mixture every time you are adding in liquid, you will not slowly release those starches. You will stall the starch release every time you add more liquid. So, it is very important for overall texture, creaminess and correct final product to add warm to hot liquid in slowly.
Now with all of that being said, flavors can be enhanced when you mimic them with the stock or liquid you use. I usually go by what is going into the risotto and who is enjoying it. For example, in this wild mushroom risotto, yes, it is technically a vegetarian risotto. However, if not only vegetarians will be enjoying it, I also actually like to use beef stock to make it. This helps deepen the flavors and enhance the final product. Yet, if there will be vegetarians enjoying this as well, I would use a vegetable stock.
Aromatics make the difference
A really good risotto always starts out with garlic and shallots. These sauté together for a few minutes before you add in your rice to get toasted. They really add a beautiful depth of flavor that I do not recommend skipping. The other aromatic is the rice itself. It is very important to toast your rice for your risotto. This brings an additional flavor profile as well as opening up the rice to begin releasing those starches. These steps are very important and often overlooked.
Finishing touches do matter
I almost never finish my risotto with cream of any kind. I say almost never because I so make a few risottos that are finished with cream. Yet, it is very rare for me to add cream to help with the creaminess of a good risotto. I usually get to the creamy texture with low and slow cooking of the rice. I do however, always; yes always finish with butter and cheese. Mainly freshly grated parmesan cheese. You can change that up though as well. Sometimes I will add in goat cheese for tanginess. You can also add Romano or Manchego cheese if you want more of a bite at the end. You cannot skip the butter though! LOL
Chef’s Tips
I have given you a lot of good tips already above. Yet, the biggest thing I cannot stress enough about making a great, restaurant quality risotto is to make it low and slow. Again, you can cook up your steak or chicken or shrimp, whatever you are making with your risotto while you are stirring it. You do not have to constantly stir; it is more consistently stir. So, this way your whole meal can be made in 20-30 minutes and then it is not so daunting. Just do not rush the process. Remember to toast the rice and add the warm or hot liquid in slowly and stir consistently and you are going to have an amazing risotto every single time. ENJOY!
Wild Mushroom Risotto
Ingredients
- 1 lb wild mushroom
- 8 tbsp butter separated
- 2 small shallots minced
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 2 fresh thyme sprigs
- 4-6 fresh basil leaves
- Kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
- 3/4 cup dry white wine (whatever you like to drink)
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 5 cups beef stock or vegetable stock
- 1 1/2 cups Arborio Rice
- 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- fresh basil and thyme optional for garnish
Instructions
- Warm broth over low heat in a small saucepan.
- In a heavy skillet melt 2 tbsp butter over medium heat. Add mushrooms and shallots and sauté until tender, about 8 minutes. Add garlic, thyme sprigs, and basil, (whole and you can remove after cooking) Kosher salt to taste and pepper and stir for an additional minute. Remove mushroom mixture from pan and set aside.
- Add 2-3 more tbsp butter to pan over medium heat. Once melted, add rice and toast until rice begins to look lightly brown and translucent, 3-4 minutes.
- Add ¾ cup dry white wine and lemon juice and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly until liquid is absorbed. Add beef stock or 1 cup of vegetable stock and stir until almost all broth is absorbed. Continuing adding broth 1 cup at a time, and stir until liquid is almost absorbed. (This step takes 20-25 minutes.)
- Add mushrooms mixture into the rice and stir to combine. Gently stir in remaining butter and parmesan cheese and cook for an additional 5 min on low heat. Risotto should be creamy, but firm to the bite. Transfer risotto to a serving bowl and top with freshly ground pepper, shaved parmesan and fresh herbs. ENJOY!
Equipment needed to make the risotto is a great chef’s knife and cutting board. You can find my favorites here.
https://happychefmama.com/2022/09/12/chefs-knife/
https://happychefmama.com/2022/09/12/the-best-cutting-boards-2/
Also come check out my next class. You can sign up here on the blog or directly on the website for North American Pizza and culinary. Both links are below.
https://www.pizzaculinaryacademy.com/events-calendar
