Baked Mushroom Risotto
No stirring, no standing over it, and no ladle. The oven does the same job with none of the attention.
Stirred risotto is better. This is not that, and it is close enough that the difference stops mattering on a weeknight.
The stock goes in all at once and the lid holds the steam. What you give up is the last bit of creaminess, and you get it most of the way back by beating in the butter at the end.
Ingredients
| Amount | Ingredient |
|---|---|
| 1 1/2 cups | arborio or carnaroli rice |
| 4 cups | hot chicken or vegetable stock |
| 12 oz | mushrooms, sliced thick |
| 1 | onion, chopped fine |
| 2 | garlic cloves, chopped |
| 1/2 cup | white wine, optional |
| 3 tbsp | butter, cold |
| 2 oz | parmesan, grated |
Method
- Heat the oven to 400°F.
- Brown the mushrooms hard in an ovenproof pan, in two batches so they colour rather than sweat. Set them aside.
- Soften the onion in the same pan, add the garlic, then the rice. Stir a minute until the grains look glassy at the edges.
- Wine in, let it disappear. Then all the hot stock at once, and a good pinch of salt.
- Lid on, into the oven, eighteen minutes. Do not open it.
- Out of the oven, mushrooms back in, then beat in the cold butter and the parmesan hard for thirty seconds. That beating is what makes it creamy.
Notes
- Hot stock, not cold. Cold stock drops the pan temperature and the timing stops working.
- Eighteen minutes suits arborio. Carnaroli wants twenty and holds its shape better.
- It thickens as it sits. Serve it looser than you think you want it.
Questions
Can I use ordinary rice?
No. The starch on short-grain risotto rice is the sauce; long-grain rice gives you a rice bake.
Do I have to brown the mushrooms separately?
It is the one step worth the extra pan. Mushrooms added raw release water and the rice ends up steamed.
Leftovers?
Flatten cold leftovers into patties and fry them. That is arguably a better dish than the original.