4 servings; 10 min preparation; 30 min cooking time.

This is by far one of my favorite Italian dishes. I just love the taste and smell of the mushrooms and the creaminess of the rice with Parmesan cheese. All flavors make perfect sense put together.

You have so many choices in choosing the right mushrooms for the risotto. I really recommend the dried ones though, because they give deeper flavour to the rice. In this case you can use porcini or chanterelle mushrooms.

For the ragù you can use the common white button mushroom or chestnuts mushrooms. I would even prefer a mix of wild mushrooms. Just make sure that they have a label and are safe before you buy them. If you prefer a different sort risotto, check my recipe for spring risotto with peas.

Ingredients

• 300 g Arborio rice
• 2 big shallots or 1 big sweet onion, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 100 ml dry white wine
• 1 l vegetable (or chicken) stock, warm
• 20 g dried porcini mushrooms
• 1 tbsp mild olive oil
• 100 g grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 tsp white pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt

for the mushroom ragù

• 200 g shiitake mushrooms
• 1 tbsp butter
• salt and white pepper

Preparation

Risotto: Soak the porcini mushrooms in warm water around 20 min until you cook them. Heat the vegetable stock over very low heat. Keep it simmering and warm until you finish the risotto.

Mince the shallots and garlic very fine. Make sure that the shallot pieces are not bigger than a rice grain. Heat olive oil in a big cooking pan over medium heat. Sauté the shallots until soft and transparent. Add the garlic and sauté for 3 more minutes. Add the rice and stir well until it becomes transparent.

Pour the white wine and cook for 3-5 min or until the alcohol evaporates. When the rice starts to dry out, add one ladle from the stock.

Remove the porcini mushrooms from the water and drain them fine. Mince the mushrooms very fine and add them to the rice. Keep stirring and adding stock if you see that the rice is drying out. Keep adding stock until the while amount is absorbed.

Ragù: When the rice is almost al dente, heat butter in another cooking pan over medium heat. Add the shiitake mushrooms. Season with salt and white pepper.   If the mushrooms are too big, cut them in slices. Leave a couple small ones whole, you will use them as garnish.

Keep stirring the rice and add one ladle stock at a time. When the rice is cooked through, add the Parmesan cheese. Season with salt and white pepper to your taste at the very end. Enjoy!