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Cheat's wild mushroom risotto
The original oven-baked risotto from the old Wild Mushrooms Online recipe pages. No standing over the pan stirring for half an hour - the oven does the work while you lay the table. Dried ceps give the depth, fresh wild mushrooms give the texture.
Serves 4 · About 50 minutes
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Ingredients
- 25g dried ceps (penny buns), or any dried wild mushroom
- 300g fresh wild mushrooms, cleaned and torn or thickly sliced
- 300g carnaroli or arborio rice
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 150ml dry white wine
- 1 litre hot vegetable or chicken stock, plus the strained cep soaking liquid
- 50g butter, plus a knob to finish
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 tbsp evaporated milk (the old trick - richer than cream and it will not split)
- 50g finely grated parmesan
- Salt, black pepper, a little chopped parsley
Method
- Heat the oven to 180C / 160C fan / gas 4. Cover the dried ceps with 300ml boiling water and leave to soak for 20 minutes.
- Melt the butter with the olive oil in a lidded ovenproof casserole over a medium heat. Soften the onion gently for 8 to 10 minutes without colouring, then add the garlic for a further minute.
- Lift the ceps out of their liquid, squeeze them, and chop roughly. Strain the soaking liquid through a paper towel to leave the grit behind, and keep it - that liquid is most of the flavour.
- Stir the rice into the onions and cook for two minutes until the grains turn translucent at the edges. Pour in the wine and let it bubble away almost completely.
- Add the chopped ceps, the strained soaking liquid and the hot stock. Bring to a simmer, stir once, cover, and put the casserole in the oven for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile fry the fresh wild mushrooms hard in a little butter in a separate pan, in batches so they colour rather than steam. Season them and set aside.
- Take the casserole out, stir in the fried mushrooms, cover and return to the oven for 10 minutes.
- Stir in the evaporated milk, the parmesan and a final knob of butter. Season, cover, and rest off the heat for 15 minutes before serving - this is what makes it creamy. Scatter with parsley.