I love it when all of these fibrous vegetables come back into season in the autumn months. Things like purple/green kale, celeriac and wild mushrooms. Using my dried porcini mushrooms from Greece, I cooked up this delicious, earthy and warming risotto. Eating it makes me want to wrap up warm and wonder through the dense foliage of the forest.
Try out the recipe for yourself.
Ingredients
2 garlic cloves – finely chopped
1 stick celery – chopped
1 shallot – finely chopped
1 cup dried mushrooms (whichever variety you choose. I used porcini)
1 cup of roasted celeriac, cut into cubes
1-2 sprigs of thyme
Parmesan cheese
Salt & Pepper
1l of veg stock
Risotto rice
Olive oil
Chopped spring onion
Method
- Place dried mushrooms in a bowl and fill with warm water to rehydrate the mushrooms. Fill just to cover the mushrooms.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C. Once warm, add chopped celeriac to a try covering with enough oil to coat. Roast in the oven for 20min or until soft.
- Heat 1 tbsp. of olive oil, then add in chopped garlic and shallot. Fry for a few minutes.
Once onion is opaque, add in chopped celery and fry for a further 5 minutes. - Cook for 5 minutes and you will begin to see the rice becoming transparent round the edges, you could at this time add in a glass of white wine and cook this off for a few minutes to cook off the alcohol. If not using, begin to add in the stock very slowly, stirring into the rice mix as you go along. Add the stock in, ladle by ladle and allow each one to be absorbed by the rice before adding in the next ladle. Do not use all the vegetable stock as you will top up the liquid with that from the soaked mushrooms. This is full of flavour.
- Add all of this to the pan along with the mushrooms and roasted celeriac.
Continue to allow the liquid to be absorbed. You know that the risotto is ready when the rice has a small bite to it. Do not overcook at this point as the rice will become very stodgy.
At the last minute, stir through some parmesan cheese, adding in salt and pepper to taste.
Serve risotto in a bowl topped with spring onion.