Mushroom risotto

Ingredients

• 3/4 ozdried porcini mushrooms
• 1 1/4 quartsvegetable stock, kept hot
• 14 ozchestnut mushrooms, sliced thickly
• 2 tbspolive oil
• 2 3/4 ozunsalted butter
• 1onion, very finely chopped
• 2 clovegarlic, crushed
• 11 1/4 ozarborio rice, or carnaroli
• 5/8 cupdry white wine
• 2 1/2 ozvegetarian Italian hard cheese, Parmesan-style, finely grated
• 1/4 ozfresh thyme, leaves picked
• 1 1/2 tspsea salt
• 1 tspblack pepper
• 1/4 ozfresh parsley, chopped

Method

1. 1

   Cover the dried porcini with a little of the hot vegetable stock and leave them to swell, then lift them out, chop them, and tip the soaking liquid back into the stock pan. Keep the stock at a bare simmer throughout.

2. 2

   Heat the olive oil in a wide pan and fry the chestnut mushrooms hard until they are properly browned, season them, and tip them onto a plate to add back later.

3. 3

   Melt a third of the butter in the same pan, soften the onion and garlic without coloring them, then add the rice and stir for a minute or two until the grains are hot and translucent at the edges with a white dot at the center.

4. 4

   Pour in the white wine and stir until it has almost gone, then add the hot stock one ladle at a time along with the chopped porcini, stirring often and waiting until each addition has been absorbed before adding the next.

5. 5

   Start tasting after about eighteen minutes. When the grains are tender with the barest resistance at the center, stir the browned mushrooms and the thyme back through and season with the salt and pepper.

6. 6

   Take the pan off the heat, add the rest of the butter and the grated hard cheese, and beat them in vigorously until the risotto turns glossy and ripples when you shake the pan. Scatter with parsley and serve at once.