Risotto is notorious for being 'difficult to do well'. Well I respectfully disagree with that statement. Risotto is one of my favourite dishes, and is so good for using up things you have left in the fridge - or if you have nothing to make another meal with! It is also really easy to do well, if you follow a few simple steps.
This recipe uses things I always end up having in the fridge: wine (!), mushrooms, garlic, onion, spinach and risotto rice.
Dried mushrooms are also a great thing to keep in your cupboard, they're cheap and keep forever and in 10 minutes are a really delicious addition to any meal. I rarely cook without onions and mushrooms - so they're an essential for me!
So first things first, boil the kettle and make up a jugful of vegetable stock. While the kettle is boiling chop up your onion and fresh mushrooms. With some left over boiling water soak your dried mushrooms in a bowl. The full instructions for soaking them is usually on the back of the packet - soak them for as long as possible, until they're soft - but not rubbery.
Heat some oil in a deep pan and crush in a clove of garlic (or if you've run out, or cook with garlic a lot, then this lazy garlic is great because it goes a really long way and lasts for ages in the fridge!). Soften your onions in the pan, until they're nice and gooey.
Now you want to add the rice. Use arborio risotto rice, it's lovely and creamy and gives the whole dish that soft oozy texture. I am rubbish with measurements so I usually just chuck in an amount that looks about half the size of what I think I can eat. Some people say about 35g per person is enough. This rice expands bucket-loads so it might not look a lot - but will definitely fill you up!
Once you chuck that in, grab your wooden spoon and stir it into the oil and onions and just keep pushing it around in the pan. It's well known that you have to 'constantly stir' risotto. You do have to stir it a lot, but not constantly! Except at this point...! Don't let the rice stick to the pan and keep stirring until it is heated and starting to cook - you'll know because the rice grains will start to go from white to see-through.
Once the rice is starting to go see-through, pour in about half a glass full of white wine - more if you're cooking for a lot of people and let it fizzle away. The smell is divine!
Now add your fresh mushrooms and stir it all in. This is when you'll start to see the creaminess of the rice start to come out - lovely stuff. Once the majority of the wine has cooked off, but there's still a bit of moisture and gooeyness there, start to add your stock you made up earlier. Add the stock a bit at a time, just covering your ingredients each time.
Now is when the dish really starts to get its lovely colouring! Stir as much or as little as you like now - bring the stock to boil and let it do it's stuff. The more you stir the more oozy the dish will be in the end - so stir to your taste! Just don't let the rice stick to the pan, and don't let it get too dry. If it starts to dry or stick, just add another glug of stock and give it a good stir to unstick the bits on the bottom!
By now your dried mushrooms should be lovely and soft (not rubbery!) so you can drain them, chop them up and add them to the pan.
After a couple more glugs of stock now's the time to check your rice. Chances are it will still be very hard - it always takes a little longer than expected! Just keep adding stock, stirring and cooking it off until your rice is soft and to your taste. There should be no crunchiness to the rice, so just keep at it until it is completely soft. Season well with salt and pepper (risotto can take quite a lot of salt so don't be shy).
When you think your rice is almost done and there's still quite a lot of moisture in the pan add a couple of handfuls of spinach and stir it in. Spinach does not take a lot to wilt and disappear, so don't leave it too long before turning off the heat.
Add a dash of lemon juice (use about half a fresh lemon or a tablespoon of lemon juice) and season again.
Now turn off the heat and grate a knob of cheese into the pan, cover the pan for 2 minutes to let it really soak in and create a wonderful gooey, oozy, creamy texture.
Serve and garnish with a couple of spinach leaves and a large glass of white wine. Mmmm heaven!
What's great about this recipe is that you can swap your ingredients in and out depending on what you fancy/what you've got in the fridge! Just keep the base ingredients (onion, wine, stock risotto rice), and the cooking steps the same. Here are some more options to try:
Pea and Mint: put the peas in after the first dose of stock. If you're using frozen peas dunk them in warm water first to bring them up to room temp. Then mash up fresh mint, or add a teaspoon of mint sauce at the end, before serving.
Chicken and Chorizo: cook off the chicken first, with the onion and cook the chorizo separately and add it, and the cooking oils, later on. For real luxury add some sun-dried tomatoes, or roast some vine tomatoes in the oven, mash them up and add them just before serving!
Bon appetit!