Talking about autumn in the kitchen means highlighting some star ingredients like pumpkin, artichokes or chestnuts, vegetables like chard or spinach, and fruits like pomegranate or persimmon. But above all, with the arrival of autumn, the mushroom season begins.
Basket and knife in hand, it is time for many mushroom lovers to head out to rural roads, mountains and forests to collect a few specimens to later delight their palates. Always be very careful not to add any inedible variety to the pile. If you live in an area of Spain where mushrooms don’t grow, you can always head to the nearest market to pick up a good handful of chanterelles, porcini mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, senderuelas or chanterelles.
If you love mushrooms, you have probably prepared them in a thousand and one ways. From the simplest, grilled with spices or aromatic herbs to taste, in stews with meat, legumes or vegetable proteins – we recommend making them with tofu or seitan tacos -, in pâtés and as an accompaniment to pasta or rice dishes. Very delicious rice with mushrooms and cauliflower.
But if there is one way of preparing mushrooms in which they take on their well-deserved importance, it is in risottos, a typical dish from northern Italy. Nothing to do with our dry, velvety or creamy rice, the Italian preparation is characterized by a smooth and creamy texture.
For its preparation we must use a special rice, with a high starch content. It’s arborio rice. And although traditional Italian mushroom risotto is cooked with funghi porcini mushrooms, it will be just as spectacular with any other mushrooms of your choice. In case you don’t know, to make a risotto – unlike what we do with our rice recipes – you will need to add the broth little by little. We explain how to prepare a traditional Italian risotto in stages.
Balance by balance
The first thing you need to know is that risotto is a time-consuming dish and you need to be aware of it. It is not a preparation that we can leave to its own devices while we solve other tasks. Of course, we assure you that the result is worth it. This is a recipe that is cooked over low heat, which must be stirred from time to time – preferably with a wooden spoon – and into which the broth must be added little by little, pot by pot.
To make this recipe – we give you the necessary ingredients for four to five guests – we will need 400 grams of carnaroli or arborio rice – if you can’t find it, you can opt for another round grain variety -, one liter of chicken or vegetable stock, around 300 grams of mushrooms of your choice, an onion and two cloves of garlic, a glass of white wine, 70 grams of butter and 75 grams of parmesan, liquid cream (optional) and salt and pepper to taste.
Mushrooms, in the pan
The first thing we need to do is cook our mushrooms. If you have obtained the dehydrated porcini mushrooms, we will hydrate them in hot water for at least 20 minutes until they have gained consistency. We are going to cook them with a pinch of butter in a pan with the chopped onion and garlic. The mushrooms, also in small pieces.
A tip: if you have hydrated the mushrooms – if you use cold water you will need an hour – do not throw this water away, as contact with the mushrooms gives it an intense mushroom flavor and you can use this broth for your risotto.
Once they have finished and released all the water, we add the rice. Stir and add the glass of white wine and a pot of chicken or vegetable broth (still hot). We will continue to stir little by little with our wooden spoon. We will repeat the operation as many times as necessary. The process usually takes around 25 or 30 minutes. You must prevent the rice from drying out. Its texture should be creamy.
When the rice is ready – taste it until it is cooked – it is time to add the grated parmesan and butter. Now stir everything very well so that all the ingredients and flavors are integrated. If you wish, you can also add a little liquid cream to give the recipe more creaminess. This can be useful, especially if you have not found the arborio or carnaroli variety of rice, which thanks to the starch it contains gives the ideal texture to the risotto.
Mushroom and black truffle risotto
If you have already tried mushroom risotto, we are going to offer you another option so that you can try new dishes. A winning combination is mushrooms with black truffles. To make this recipe, you will need, in addition to the previous ingredients, between 20 and 30 grams of fresh black truffle and truffle oil.
The preparation has no mystery but the intensity of the flavor will surely not leave you indifferent. When you are going to add the last ladle of vegetable or chicken broth to your risotto, grate a little truffle on top. We will laminate the rest with a mandolin and reserve it until the end. We will add the leaves to risotto dishes when serving them. You can drizzle the preparation with a little truffle oil.
This type of risotto also goes perfectly with ingredients from the garden and the sea, very typical of the Italian region of Veneto. Another delicious recipe is Mushroom, Shrimp and Arugula Risotto. It is cooked in the same way as the previous ones, but adding the shrimp at the end as well as the fresh arugula.
