Autumn is the best season for mushroom risotto. Markets now have porcini and chanterelles, while button mushrooms and portobello are sold all year.

The recipe was shared by the Italian food portal GialloZafferano, which calls it a classic autumn first course.

Risotto is made with carnaroli rice, which holds its shape. Its creaminess comes not from cream but from the final step Italians call mantecatura.

What you need

Serves 4:

  • carnaroli rice, 320 g;
  • porcini, 180 g;
  • chanterelles, 100 g;
  • button mushrooms, 100 g;
  • portobello mushrooms, 100 g;
  • white onion, 50 g;
  • garlic, 1 clove;
  • vegetable stock, as needed;
  • extra virgin olive oil, for frying;
  • salt and black pepper;
  • grated Grana Padano, 60 g;
  • cold butter, 60 g.

How to cook

1. Prepare the stock and porcini. Make vegetable stock and keep it hot. Trim the earthy part of the porcini stems, wipe them clean, dice the stems and slice the caps.

2. Clean the other mushrooms. Scrape the gills from the portobello with a teaspoon, wipe and cut into 1 cm cubes. Quarter the button mushrooms and cut the chanterelles lengthways into 2–3 pieces. Finely chop the onion.

3. Brown the mushrooms. Heat oil in a large pan with a halved garlic clove. Add all the mushrooms, season with salt and cook over a high heat for about 8 minutes, stirring. When browned, remove the garlic and set the mushrooms aside.

4. Toast the rice. In the same pan add a little more oil and gently soften the onion until translucent. Add the rice and toast, stirring often, until the grains are hot.

5. Cook, adding stock. Add a ladle of hot stock. Cook the rice, adding a ladle at a time each time the previous one is absorbed.

6. Add the mushrooms. Three minutes before the end return the mushrooms, add a little more stock and season with pepper.

7. Mantecatura. Turn off the heat, add the cold diced butter and grated cheese and stir vigorously.

Serve the risotto straight away, while it is hot and creamy.

As a reminder, at the end of September we made a mushroom soup without a blender.

Nota bene

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