FrixosPersonalChefing
Suitable for vegetarians
September 21, 2022
Mushroom risotto with the best margarine and freshly grated Kefalotyri Charalambides Christis!
Prep Time
20
mins
Cook Time
45
mins
Serves
6
Ingredients
- 500g Rice, rich in starch such as Arborio or Carnaroli
- 4 Large Portobello Mushrooms, thickly chopped
- 300g Small Portobello Mushrooms, sliced 3-4mm thickness
- 200g Shiitake Mushrooms, cut in half
- 150g Beech/Shimeji Mushrooms, as they are, or any other small ‘exotic’ mushrooms
- 3 Sprigs Rosemary, needles picked and finely chopped
- 2 Cloves Garlic, smashed
- 30ml Lemon Juice
- 1 Large Yellow Onion, finely diced
- 2 Cloves Garlic, minced with a garlic presser
- 100ml White Wine
- 1500ml Vegetable Stock, to be kept warm.
- 80g Margarine Vegan, Charalambides Christis
- 80ml EVOO, Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 tbsp Fresh Thyme, home grown, leaves picked and roughly chopped, plus more leaves for garnishing
- 100g Kefalotyri Cheese, Charalambides Christis, grated
- 1 ½ tsp Sea Salt
- 1 tsp freshly ground Black Pepper
Instructions
- Take a large high wall frying pan and place on high heat. When hot add 40ml of olive oil and 40g of Margarine. When the margarine melts add the small Portobello and shitake mushrooms, rosemary, thyme and smashed garlic and let sizzle and brown on one side before tossing. Cook for about 5’, tossing occasionally. Add the beech mushrooms, toss and deglaze with the lemon juice to brighten the colour, and season with 1 tsp of salt and ½ tsp of pepper. Discard the garlic, remove the mushrooms from the pan to a plate and keep aside warm.
- Place the large portobello mushrooms in the bowl of a food processor and pulse couple of times to finely chop them. Remove and keep aside.
- Wipe the pan with kitchen paper and place on medium-high heat. Add the remaining 40ml of the olive oil and allow to heat-up. Add the onions and sweat them for 3’. Add the minced garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 30’’.
- Then add the rice and stir to get well coated with the oil. Toss for a minute or so and then deglaze with the wine. Allow the wine to reduce and for the alcohol to evaporate.
- Add the chopped mushrooms and start adding a ladle or two at a time of the vegetable stock, lower the heat to simmer and stir. While stirring wait until all liquid has been absorbed and repeat.
- Just before the last couple of ladles and when the rice has some bite in the centre, season with the remaining salt and pepper and add the cooked mushrooms with all their liquids and optionally some more thyme (remember to keep some mushrooms for garnishing). Stir, add the last ladle, allow to reduce a bit, you want a creamy but not runny risotto and add the remaining 40g of margarine, 60g of the grated kefalotyri cheese and remove from the heat. Stir well and put the lid on for 1’ for the flavours to come together.
- Serve the risotto in a flat dish, add some of the reserved cooked mushrooms, garnish with some thyme leaves and grate on top the remaining kefalotyri cheese.
