Servings
Serves 6
Ingredients
- 1.5 litres chicken or vegetable stock, hot
- olive oil
- 1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 sticks celery, trimmed and finely chopped
- 400 g risotto rice
- 75 ml vermouth or white wine (I used vermouth)
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 6 large mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
- parsley, leaves picked and chopped
- juice of 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon butter
- 1 small handful Parmesan cheese, freshly grated, plus extra for serving
- extra virgin olive oil
Method
1. Heat your stock in a saucepan and keep it covered. In a large pan, heat a pan of olive oil and add the onion and celery.
2. Slowly fry without colouring them for at least 10 minutes, then turn the heat up and add the rice. Give it a stir. Stir in the vermouth or wine – it’ll smell fantastic!
3. Keep stirring until the liquid has cooked into the rice. Now a good pinch of salt and your first ladle of hot stock. Turn the heat down to a simmer and keep adding ladlefuls of stock, stirring, allowing each ladleful to be absorbed before adding the next.
4. Carry on adding stock until the rice is soft but with a slight bite. This will take about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, brush a griddle pan with olive oil and grill the mushrooms until soft. If your pan isn’t big enough, do this in batches.
5. Put them into a bowl and add the chopped parsley, a pinch of salt and the lemon juice. Using your hands, get stuck in and toss everything together, add to the risotto and stir – Take the risotto off the heat and check the seasoning carefully. Stir in the butter and the Parmesan.
6. You want it to be creamy in texture, so add a bit more stock if you think it needs it. Put a lid on and leave the risotto to relax for about 3 minutes. Take your risotto and add a little more seasoning or Parmesan if you like a stronger flavour.
7. Serve risotto topped with the grilled dressed mushrooms, a sprinkling of freshly grated Parmesan and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
Recipe by Ana Maria Morro