Risotto with Sherry Mushrooms

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My husband and I enjoy watching Hell’s Kitchen.  Not so much Ramsey yelling all the time but we like the competition.  One thing that gets us is how often they screw up risotto.  And it always looks a beige brownish mess on telly.  I wouldn’t eat it!  But we do enjoy risotto and it is not hard to make.  Does ours always come out the same each time?  No but it’s close.  And no one yells at us!

This recipe makes enough for the four of us though that will change as the kids grow.

To start I heat up our homemade chicken stock. You need about 4 cups. This ensures you aren’t stalling the cooking process when you add it to the risotto.  Because homemade stock may not be that salty taste as you cook to see if you need to add salt as seasoning.

While that is simmering I prep the onions, garlic, mushroom and thyme. It’s about 1/2 an onion and a few mushrooms.  I have a cup of risotto ready. I also grate about a cup of parmesan cheese.  My daughter practiced her knife skills with the garlic.  I showed her how to mash and mince the garlic.

No fingers were lost in this production of risotto!  🙂

In a large skillet melt a couple of tablespoons of butter and saute the onions for a few minutes to soften.

Add in half the garlic ( we use about 3-4 cloves total) and saute for two minutes.  Then add in the risotto and again saute for 2 minutes.  Add 1/2 cup of sherry.

At this point gradually add the broth as the risotto soaks it up.  Stir as it is cooking.  While this is cooking, in a separate skillet heat up some olive oil and toss in the mushrooms, thyme, and garlic.  Cook until the mushrooms start to brown then add in a bit of sherry and saute for a few minutes.

We have garden peas in the freezer which I used for this.  Because they were from our garden they take longer to cook than store bought, which I didn’t realise so I ended up using a bit more broth to cook than normal so this risotto came out slightly less creamy than usual.

When most of the broth has been absorbed add the grated cheese and mushroom mixture to the risotto.  Stir then serve.  When we were in Italy we learned that you don’t want the risotto to cook so much that it is mushy.  You don’t want it crunchy either but have it a bit al dente.

Serve with more cheese on top and enjoy!  This takes about 45 minutes total but is very easy to put together and there are many variations of risotto to try.

 

 

16 thoughts on “Risotto with Sherry Mushrooms”

  2. I did not have the courage to cook risotto for many years. I was scare to ruin all the good ingredients!! A few years ago I gave it a go ….surprise: it is not so difficult, especially if you follow your great pictures step by step!! This reminds me that I want to cook a good mushroom risotto sooooon!

    • It’s funny it was only after I started making it and knew it was relatively easy that I heard some people thought it was difficult.

  4. I created a risotto a few years ago using salmon, asparagus, and goat cheese. So many options, so many flavors, such fun! Thanks for the tip about the home-grown peas taking more time to cook.

  6. Wow your risotto looks great- I’m glad you put up a recipe as I’ve been thinking about making some since coming back from holidays in San Sebastian where I became obsessed with mushroom and cheese risotto! I love your blog, everything you cook looks tasty but uncomplicated! I definitely will try a few of these recipes 🙂

  8. This looks excellent!

    I had to laugh because I watch Hells Kitchen and Master Chef too and often wonder the same thing. It makes me laugh when he yells at them about messing it up and shaking his head! Too funny!

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