Winter mushroom risotto

We have made this recipe easily adaptable for more.  The quantities are based on 2 serves - and that makes it so easy to increase!  Who doesn't love risotto for lunch the next day - or arancini?  

Serves 2

 Ingredients

• 200g Arborio Rice
• 600g brown chicken stock (hot but not boiling)
• 100g brown chicken stock (separate)
• 15g dried porcini slices
• Parmigiano Reggiano (80g will be ample), grated or shaves with a microplane
• 6 Swiss brown mushrooms
• 1 medium brown onion (bruniose)
• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• ¼ bunch thyme (picked)
• 2 lemons
• 1/8 bunch continental parsley (finely chopped)
• 50g unsalted butter, cold and diced

Method

1. Add your porcini slices to the stock and leave for 20 mins. Remove the porcini, reserving the liquid and keeping it hot. Finely chop the porcini and set aside.
2. Whilst you wait, quarter the Swiss browns, and sauté over a medium heat to colour well. Don’t fully cook them, we just want good colour at this point. Deglaze with the 100g of chicken stock, rolling the mushrooms in the stock until it reduces into a glaze over the mushrooms. Add a small knob of the butter and remove the mushrooms from the pan. Set aside
3. In a cold pan start with a tablespoon of neutral cooking oil, sweat the onion until translucent and glossy. Add the picked thyme and cook for a further 1 minute or until you can smell the thyme. It is important not to brown the onion and garlic.
4. Add a small knob of the butter and melt into the mixture.
5. Add rice and a small pinch of salt. Stir to coat the rice in the onions, garlic and butter. Stir for 1 minute.
6. Add 1/3^rd of the stock to the pan and the chopped porcini. Now we must not leave the risotto. It needs all your attention! Bring the stock to a simmer stirring the whole time. Cook over a medium heat until the pan is “starved” (all stock is reduced out and only rice remains). The pan should still be moist but no stock visible. This ensures creaminess.
7. Add another 3^rd of the stock and repeat. 
8. Add the final 3^rd of stock, however, this time we aren’t cooking it until the pan is starved. We want to keep some of the broth in the rice. We cook until the rice is cooked to the appropriate texture and the risotto is the consistency we desire. Loose but holds. Not thick and stodgy.
9. Add the caramelized Swiss browns to the pan, reserving a few for garnishing. Adjust the seasoning and lemon juice. Add remaining butter. Finally, finish with parsley.
10. Serve on a flat plate topped with freshly shaved parmesan and your reserved Swiss browns.
11. Enjoy with Pinot Noir.