Lydia Bastianich's Creamy Mushroom Risotto

By Lonnie

Ingredients

• 6 1/2 cups hot chicken or vegetable stock
• 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup minced onion
• 2 tablespoons minced shallots
• 12 ounces fresh porcini mushrooms, thickly sliced (or sub shiitake or other mushrooms)
• 2 cups arborio or carnaroli rice
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Grana Padano
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preparation

Step 1

1. Bring the stock to a bare simmer in a medium saucepan. Heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil in a medium Dutch oven or large straight-sided skillet, and sauté the onion and shallots until golden. Add the mushrooms, and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Remove mushrooms and set aside. To the same pan, add the remaining olive oil and the rice. Cook and stir to coat the rice with oil, until toasted but not colored, about 3 minutes. Pour in the wine, and cook until evaporated, about 2 minutes.

2. Add ½ cup of the hot stock and the salt. (This step varies from Lidia's prep with me, where she salted each ingredient separately.) Cook, stirring constantly, until all the liquid has been absorbed. Continue to add hot stock in small batches (just enough to moisten the rice completely), stirring constantly to help absorb the liquid, until the rice mixture is creamy and al dente. With the last addition of the stock, return the mushrooms to the pot, and stir and cook for an additional 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the risotto from the heat, beat in the butter and then the cheese, season with pepper to taste, and serve immediately.

3. Porcini is the ideal mushroom for this recipe, but any mushroom or mixture of mushrooms will yield a delicious risotto.