Mushroom Risotto

Arborio Rice • Parmesan • Stirred Slowly — Milan, Italy

The stirring is not a myth — it is how arborio rice releases its starch into a sauce of its own. Hot stock, ladle by ladle, and a loose, flowing finish the Italians call all'onda — like a wave.

Ingredients

• 300 g — Arborio or Carnaroli rice (1½ cups)
• 400 g — Mixed mushrooms, sliced
• 1500 ml — Hot vegetable stock (6 cups)
• 120 ml — Dry white wine (½ cup)
• 70 g — Shallot or onion, finely diced (½ cup)
• 45 g — Butter, cold & cubed (3 Tbsp)
• 60 g — Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated (¾ cup)
• 10 g — Garlic (2 cloves)
• 30 ml — Olive oil (2 Tbsp)
• 5 g — Fresh thyme or parsley

Step-by-Step Method

1. Sear the mushrooms separately. Mushrooms in a hot pan in a single layer until deeply golden — crowd them and they steam instead of browning. Set aside; they return at the end so they stay meaty.
2. Toast the rice (tostatura). Shallot softened in olive oil and a knob of butter, rice in for 2 minutes until the grains turn translucent at the edges with a white core. Wine in, and let it evaporate completely.
3. Stock, ladle by ladle. Hot stock one ladle at a time, stirring often and letting each addition be absorbed before the next. About 18 minutes, until the rice is al dente and suspended in a creamy flow — taste from minute 15.
4. Mantecatura — off the heat. Heat off. Cold butter and parmesan beaten in vigorously until the risotto shines. Fold the mushrooms through, lid on 2 minutes. It should ripple like a wave when you shake the plate — if it sits in a mound, loosen with stock.

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