A lot of people are scared of cooking risotto, but it’s really easy, and once you know how, there are loads of meat-free options which are all made basically the same way. The only “trick” is to have everything chopped up and ready to go beforehand, then once you add the rice, don’t stop stirring!
Mushroom Risotto
- 2 medium onions
- 4 sticks celery
- 400g (1 lb) risotto rice (eg: Arborio rice)
- ½ cup white wine (optional)
- 1.2 litres (2 pints) vegetable stock
- 750g mushrooms
- juice of ½ a lemon
- 2-3 sprigs of thyme
- 1-2 handfuls leafy greens (eg: baby spinach)
- handful grated parmasan (about 100g or 4 oz)
- salt and pepper to season
- knob of butter (optional)
Finely chop onions and celery, slice the mushrooms.
Heat a small amount of olive oil in a large saucepan and add the onions. Allow to soften (not brown) for a few minutes then add the celery and cook for further few minutes.
Add the rice to the pan and stir for minute or two. It starts to make a “cracking” noise.
Add the white wine, and continue to stir for a minute or two while the wine is absorbed by the rice.
Now start to add the stock. Add a ladle-full of stock at a time, stirring continually until it’s absorbed, then add another ladle, and so forth.
While the stock is cooking, add the mushrooms to a large frying pan with a little butter, a pinch of salt and the lemon juice. Stir every once in a while – it looks like you have masses of mushrooms, but they cook down a lot. When nearly done, stir in the leafy greens. Again, it looks like masses, but they will cook down to nothing.
From the time you start adding the stock, the risotto will take nearly 20 minutes. You’ll know the risotto is done by tasting it (if not done, keep adding stock and stirring) and you will have used all or most of the stock.
Once the rice is cooked, stir in the cooked mushrooms and greens, the thyme, parmasan and season with salt and pepper. Serve with extra parmasan sprinkled on top.
(Serves 4)
What can I do?
Be part of Meat-Free Monday by going meat-free one day a week (Or more days, if you feel like it!) Learn some new recipes and spread the word. Too easy!
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