Wild Mushroom Risotto

There is a Mushroom Man at our farmer’s market now, and ever since he appeared this past Fall, I’ve had a bit of an addiction. This is my favorite recipe for using his shitake mushrooms.

(4 side dish servings, 2 main dish servings)

  • 4 cups chicken broth
  • 3 Tablespoons butter
  • 1 cup finely chopped onion (I add some diced shallots if I have them)
  • 8 ounces fresh shitake mushrooms. Remove tough stems and chop.
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 cup Arborio Rice (I substituted farro for 1/2 cup in a pinch and it was chewy and delicious)
  • 1 sprig of rosemary and/or thyme, chopped
  • 1/2 cup red wine
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • salt and fresh ground pepper

Bring the broth to a simmer on a back burner in a medium saucepan. Reduce heat to low and keep warm. Melt the butter in a large, heavy saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the onions and cook, not allowing to brown, until soft, about 8 minutes. Add the mushrooms, garlic and rosemary/thyme. Sauté until the mushrooms are tender and the liquid has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Stir in the rice. Add the wine and cook, stirring often, until liquid is absorbed, about 2 minutes. Continue to add 1/2 cup of broth at a time, stirring each time until the liquid is absorbed. When all the broth is incorporated, the mixture will be creamy, and the rice just tender. Stir in the Parmesan cheese and season to taste with salt and pepper.

*Variation (12/08): Most recently I made this recipe using a basic homemade vegetable broth (1 onion, a few smashed garic cloves, 2 carrots, scraps from some celery root, 1 bunch herbs including parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, salt and pepper), subbed white wine for red, and stirred in about 1lb of roughly chopped spinach with the last 1/2 cup of broth. Delicious!

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