food comas

I’ve never made risotto before; Jen is usually spearheading carb consumption in this household with pasta and rice dishes. But I have a bunch of Arborio Rice in the cupboard and it needed to be used up. And since now is the prime time for woodsy mushrooms, I decided to combine some delicious chanterelles and other wild mushrooms with asparagus into a hearty risotto. This also was a great opportunity to use up some of my freshly made Chicken Stock and frozen duck fat from a cooking class. Both of these ingredients added to the rich flavor of the risotto.

For other risotto ideas, try Risotto with Prosciutto, Leeks, and Goat Cheese or Creamy Kabocha Squash Risotto.

Wild Mushroom and Asparagus Risotto (guidelines courtesy of Cooking Spree in Seattle)
Yields: 4-6 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of Arborio rice (don’t rinse because water will wash away the starch from the surface of the grains which we need for the creamy risotto texture)
• ½ cup white wine
• 4 – 5 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 1-2 shallots, finely chopped
• 6-7 asparagus spears cut on the bias into .5in pieces (I used more to add more flavor and color to the risotto)
• About 1/3-1/2 lb chanterelles and/or rehydrated wild mushrooms
• Parmigiano reggiano (parmesan cheese) obviously freshly grated is preferable, but any will do
• Salt to taste
• Oil for sauteing (I used duck fat!)

Directions:

I actually started with rehydrating my dried wild mushrooms, which took 20-30 minutes in hot water. Then I cut them up along with the chanterelles.

Heat oil/fat in a pan and sauté the mushrooms for 3-4 minutes. I actually added a few minutes because the dried mushrooms need to be cooked at least 25minutes. I also left the mushrooms in the hot pan after 10 minutes (but off the stove) so the dried ones could keep cooking slowly.

Bring the stock to a boil and season with salt. In another pan, heat oil/fat and cook shallots until translucent. Add rice and cook until rice gets covered in the oil/fat. Add the wine and cook, stirring until the wine evaporates.

Add a ladle of stock and cook, stirring, until the stock gets absorbed by the rice, then add another ladle and keep doing that until almost all of the stock is gone. Then add asparagus and mushrooms and keep adding stock until it gets absorbed. When the rice is done and all the stock is gone, remove from heat.

Add some grated Parmesan cheese and serve!