I’ll let you in on a secret: I hate cheese. So, I often spend time trying to find ways of avoiding it. Risottos are renowned for their creaminess, but if you cook the rice right, you can achieve a texture that is just as silky and possibly more comforting than you get by adding dairy products.
Ingredients (serves 4)
Small handful dried porcini mushrooms
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, crushed
300g risotto rice (arborio or carnaroli)
1 cup white wine
750ml-1l vegetable stock (or chicken stock if you’re not going veggie)
300g mushrooms (I’d suggest chestnut but you can also get packets of wild mushrooms in Tesco which are nicer but fancier)
1 cup frozen peas Knob of butter (optional)
Parsley ½ lemon
Method
Add the porcini mushrooms to the stock you are using so that they can hydrate and infuse. Sweat the onions in a saucepan over a medium heat. When they have softened, add the garlic and cook for two minutes. Pour in the risotto rice and stir for another two minutes before pouring in the wine. Keep stirring the rice frequently.
Once the wine has been absorbed, pour in a ladle of the stock and keep stirring. As the liquid gets absorbed, you want to add the stock back so that it never gets dry but is never too wet. Season with salt and pepper, but be careful as stock can be quite salty.
You have a few options for cooking the mushrooms: if you’re using fancy wild mushrooms, I’d suggest you cook them separately from the risotto on a high heat in a frying pan for about 3-5 minutes and add them to the risotto right at the end. Add the frozen peas towards the end of the cooking. The rice will be cooked when it still retains a little bit of bite. Stop adding stock at this point and take it off the heat. Squeeze in the lemon juice and, if you’re not going vegan, you can add in a bit of butter. Garnish with parsley and serve.
