Risotto con Funghi e Castagne (Mushroom and Chestnut Risotto)

Risotto is very popular as a primo (first course) in Italy, as an alternative to pasta, especially in Northern Italy. A dish made from rice and broth, risotto is a hearty carbohydrate source, which lends itself perfectly for a range of other ingredients. This rich, creamy risotto features 2 staple Autumn ingredients, mushrooms and sweet chestnuts. Most mushroom varieties can be found all year round in good supermarkets, although risotto recipes often call for dried porcini (piglet) mushrooms, which are able to retain their flavour while dry. If you can't find porcini mushrooms, most other mushroom varieties will do. For a nice symmetry use chestnut mushrooms!



Chestnuts are one of the defining foods around Autumn and especially Winter, when the weather starts getting colder. Roast chestnuts are wonderful served straight out of the oven on a cold Winter's day. As a child I remember eating freshly roasted chestnuts in central London from a street corner seller. I don't know if they still have these mobile chestnut carts anymore; they could be found on many street corners in London back in the day. If you can get fresh chestnuts, these can be roasted in an oven for about 30 minutes. Otherwise, you can use vacuum packed or even frozen chestnuts, but the fresh ones are definitely preferable.

Ingredients

400g Arborio or Carnaroli rice

100g dried Porcini mushrooms or fresh chestnut mushrooms

100g sweet chestnuts

1.5 L chicken or vegetable broth

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

1 glass white wine

25g butter

50g Parmesan cheese

2 Tb extra virgin olive oil

salt and black pepper to taste

Method

If you have fresh chestnuts, score these in an 'x' shape with a sharp knife along the flat side, and roast in a hot oven (215 C) for about 30 minutes, until soft. Peel while still warm. Remove the hard outer shell and also the dark inner shell, leaving the light brown nut. Chop these into small pieces.

If using dried mushrooms, soak these in the hot stock/broth for about 10 minutes, then remove and dry. If using fresh mushrooms chop into small blocks.

Chop the onion and garlic finely. Fry the onion in the olive oil in a pan over a medium heat for 4-5 minutes, until softened. Add the garlic and fry further for another 1-2 minutes.

Add the chopped mushrooms and continue frying for 2 minutes.

Turn the heat up and add the rice to the pan, making sure it all gets coated well. Next add the glass of white wine and let this absorb into the rice. When the wine has evaporated add the chopped chestnuts and 1 ladle of the stock, stirring continuously. The objective is to let the rice slowly absorb the liquid while also releasing the starch from the rice through stirring, to give that signature creamy texture that risotto requires. When the liquid is reduced, add another ladle of the stock and keep stirring. 

Repeat this process of adding stock 1 ladle at a time, stirring and letting the rice absorb the liquid, until the rice is soft on the outside but still with a bit of a bite in the middle, the distinctive al dente point, similar to that of pasta.

Depending on the type of rice you use, this may take between 20-30 minutes. You may not need to use all the stock. The result should be creamy yet still firm, with each grain being loose. Remove the pan from the heat, add the butter and grated Parmesan cheese, stir well and leave for a further 10 minutes in the pan, with the lid on. Add salt and black pepper to taste and serve immediately.

Serve the risotto on its own as a hearty starter, or with seasonal vegetables or a piece of meat as a main course.

Buon appetito! Enjoy!

A word on rice: you cannot use any old rice for risotto; long grain rice like Basmati or Pandan will not give the desired creamy texture that the shorter grain Arborio or Carnaroli give, due to the latters' higher starch content, and ability to absorb liquids. Short grain rice is also used for paella, sushi and rice pudding.