Mushroom Risotto

This recipe breaks a few rules. If you’re familiar with the dish, or you remember my first risotto recipe, you know that it’s usually made with white wine, chicken stock, and parmesan. Traditional mushroom risotto recipes follow that pattern. But when I was thinking about other potential risotto flavor combinations, I realized that mushrooms lend themselves to all sorts of exciting possibilities.

So for this recipe, I cross a couple of Italy’s borders to grab a French red wine and a Swiss cheese. The flavors of mushroom and beef are a perfect marriage, so I swap out the chicken stock for beef stock (or mushroom stock if you’re rocking the vegetarian train). The result is definitely a risotto in texture, but with a new flavor profile. Let’s get to it.

Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 1 h 20 min
Serves: 4 as a main, 8 as a side

Ingredients

8 cups beef or mushroom stock (or 4 cups of each)
6 tbsp butter (divided into 4 tbsp and 2 tbsp portions)
12 oz. baby bella mushrooms, washed and chopped (normal button mushrooms or portabellos are fine, too)
Salt
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cups arborio rice
1 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 cup red wine (I use a Cotes du Rhone)
6 oz. shredded gruyere cheese

1. In a large pot, bring the stock to a simmer. Have a ladle nearby. While the stock is heating, do the rest of your prep. Wash and chop the mushrooms, shred the cheese, measure out all the ingredients. Once the risotto gets started, you’re going to be married to your stove for awhile.

2. In a large saute pan, add 4 tbsp butter and heat over medium until it just starts to brown. Add the mushrooms and a pinch of salt. Saute until the mushrooms have reduced in volume by half, about 7-8 minutes. Transfer the mushrooms to a mixing bowl. If there is any liquid in the pan, strain the mushrooms first. Add the mushroom liquid to the pot with the stock. Turn off the heat on the saute pan.

3. Make sure you have all your ingredients in reach. Turn the heat on the saute pan back up to medium-low. Add the remaining 2 tbsp butter and 2 tbsp olive oil. Once the butter starts to bubble, add the rice. Stir vigorously. This will help the rice release the starch necessary for the risotto’s smooth sauce. Toast the rice for 2-3 minutes. It should start to become translucent and you should be able to smell the nuttiness of the toasted rice. The starch and fat should already be starting to form the sauce.

4. Add the red wine. The rice will absorb it very quickly, so make sure you are still stirring vigorously. Once it’s completely absorbed, continue to stir for another minute to further develop the starch formation.

5. Add a ladle of stock to the rice, continuing to stir vigorously. Once the stock is absorbed into the rice, add another ladle of stock. The first few ladles will be absorbed very quickly, but the process will slow down as you go. Once you have a nice sauce going, add the pepper. Continuing to ladle the stock and stir until it is absorbed. This should take around 40 minutes. In the latter half of the process, you can take your foot off the gas a little bit. Stir frequently and often, but you should be able to take a short break if you need to. But the more you stir, the better it will be.

When you drag a spoon through the rice, it should leave a path that slowly fills in. Then you know it’s time to add more stock.

6. As you get close to the end of the stock, begin tasting the rice for doneness. It should be al dente like a good pasta, soft enough that you can easily bite through it without any grittiness, but not so mushy that it provides no resistance. If you run out of stock before it’s done, you can always add water. Once the rice is done, turn off the heat. Add the mushrooms, stirring to combine. Then add the cheese and stir until the cheese is melted and well-combined into the sauce. If there’s enough starch in the sauce, the cheese should not actually be that stringy, and the sauce should still be smooth. Let it sit for 5 minutes. Serve!