Mushroom Risotto with Thyme

First, prepare your mushroom stock. Rinse dried mushrooms and soak in hot water for about 15 minutes. I did this in two batches, i.e. soaked mushrooms, drained and put stock in pot and then re-used the mushrooms by adding more hot water and soaked for 15 minutes and put remaining stock in pot. Simmer on low. In total, you want about 4-6 cups of stock. In this recipe you’ll use approximately 4 cups, but I like to have a little extra, if necessary. Any leftover stock can be used for another dish. This stuff is like liquid gold. It is so tasty!

Note: I did not use the dried mushrooms for the remainder of the recipe after this; I used fresh mushrooms. Also, if you would rather save a bit of time and skip this step (though I don’t recommend it), you can simmer equal amounts of beef stock in lieu of the mushroom stock.

Now to start the mushroom risotto. In a large sauté pan on medium low heat, melt 1 tablespoon butter with 1 teaspoon olive oil. Add mushrooms and sauté for 10 minutes. Season with 1/4 teaspoon salt and the black pepper. Remove from pan and lay to one side for later use.

Next, add remaining olive oil and cook onion and shallot until translucent (don’t brown), about 5 minutes. To this, add arborio rice. Stir to combine. Cook for about 2 minutes (don’t brown). Then add wine and cook until it has absorbed, about 5 minutes or so.

Adding about a couple of ladles of stock at a time, simmer until stock is almost absorbed before adding another couple of ladles of stock. Continue this process until rice starts to release its starch, gets creamy, and rice is cooked, about 25 minutes. In total, you will have used approximately 4 cups of stock, give or take a bit.

Off the heat, add remaining unsalted butter and stir through. Then, add all but 2 teaspoons of Parmesan cheese (reserve the rest for garnish). Stir to combine. Place in warmed dishes and garnish with reserved Parmesan cheese and reserved thyme. Serve immediately.