Ingredients for the mushroom risotto (for two people)

  • 1 white onion, finely diced
  • 2 sticks of celery, peeled and finely chopped
  • 4 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
  • About 500ml of chicken stock
  • Dried porcini mushrooms (about 10-15g)
  • Parmesan cheese, grated
  • Olive oil
  • Thyme
  • Salt and Pepper
  • 2 shots of vodka (or a glass of white wine if you’re a purist)

Making the risotto

Gently fry celery, onions and garlic

Chop up two sticks of celery (peel them first to get rid of the stringyness), a couple of gloves of garlic and a white onion. Fry them gently in a saucepan for with a small knob of butter and a good glug of olive oil.

Gently frying or sweating the onion, garlic and celery in a saucepan

Soften the dried porcini mushrooms in chicken stock

While the celery, onions & garlic are frying away, put the mushrooms into 500ml of warm chicken stock (the real stuff if you have it, otherwise stock made from an Oxo cube will do fine).

Dried Porcini or \

Soften the porcini in the chicken stock

Stir in the risotto

Stir in a big handful of risotto (rice) into the softened celery, garlic and onion (after about 5 minutes).

Italian risotto rice

Adding the risotto to the saucepan

Add the vodka (or wine)

Pour in the vodka (or two thirds of the wine) and stir once around the pot.

Then, take the softened mushrooms out of the chicken stock and put to one side.

Adding the chicken stock, spoon by spoon

Add chicken stock to risotto, stir and repeat

Once the booze has been soaked up, add some of the chicken stock and stir. It’s important not to let the risotto dry out, so keep adding the stock as it is soaked up and keeping stirring gently.

Chop up some thyme and the softened porcini

Chop up some thyme with the mushrooms taken out of the stock.

Chop up thyme and mushrooms

Stir in the thyme and mushrooms. If you’re cooking with wine, add the remainder.

Keeping mixing in stock and make sure the risotto doesn\'t dry out

As the risotto becomes softer, keep checking it to make sure it doesn’t get too soft. It should be al dente, so slightly soft with a bite.

Take off the heat and stir in Parmesan and a knob of butter

Once the risotto is al dente, take off the heat and add butter and grated Parmesan

Take off the heat and stir in the grated Parmesan with a small knob of butter and leave for a couple of minutes before serving. It can be served alone or as an accompaniment to a meaty fish, sea bass for example.

Finished risotto

And the wine?

For white, I’d go for something dry with a nice bit of acidity, so a Riesling could contrast with the rich creamy texture. You could also try to match the rich creaminess with a white Burgundy.

For red, I’d also for something dry with high acidity. Chianti Classico, a light Rioja or a Pinot Noir from New Zealand could work.