Here’s How to Make Risotto For Lots Of People When You Want To Chat And Relax Rather Than Stand Over A Pot…This recipe allows you to put all the ingredients together and bung the lot in the oven. No waiting for each spoonful of stock to be absorbed before you add the next one! Also no points for purist technique, but it’s surely handy to have a risotto that cooks itself in your culinary repertoire?
Mushroom Risotto (Serves 6)
1 red onion
75g mixed dried mushrooms
1 clove garlic
1 sprig thyme
500g arborio rice
120ml white wine
1 litre veg stock – see below
Olive oil
12 sage leaves
Salt & pepper
Butter
Parmesan
Cover your dried mushrooms in water as per packet instructions an hour or more before you want to cook. (Or to use fresh mushrooms instead, swap 75g of dried for 450g of fresh.)
After the mushrooms are soaked, strain them and keep the liquid. If they’re big, chop them up roughly – keep the pieces chunky.
Heat some olive oil in a shallow ovenproof pan. When it is hot, add the chopped onion and warm lightly on the hob or in the oven till the onion is soft. Add the mushrooms and warm through.
Put the pan on a low heat and add garlic, thyme, salt & pepper and the arborio rice. Stir and get the rice well coated with all the other ingredients.
Take most of the liquid that the mushrooms soaked in (leave the bottom bit which may have some grittier bits in) and make it up to a total of 1 litre with some vegetable stock.
Add the wine to the rice and stir till it’s nearly all evaporated then add all of the stock and stir. Bring it up to the boil, then put the pan into the oven. For Agas leave it uncovered and cook on the bottom runners in the Roasting oven for 20-25 minutes. For other ovens, put a lid on the pot and cook at 200C for 15-20 minutes until the rice is just soft.
Whilst the risotto is cooking, fry your sage leaves in some oil for a minute or two till they’re nice and crispy. Put them on some kitchen paper to drain.
To serve – garnish the risotto with parmesan shavings and the crisped up sage leaves.
