Over Thanksgiving weekend, while in Michigan with family, I dropped by one of my favorite spice shops to pick up some more Fleur de Sel, which I use on these roasted chickpeas, and some dried red chilies when I found some wild porcini sea salt. I knew immediately I wanted to make a rich and delicious mushroom risotto. Risotto can be intimidating, but trust me, if you give it a try, you'll see how easy it is to make and how delicious it tastes.
1 cup farro* (you could use the traditional arborio rice)
6 cups low-sodium beef broth
1/2 lb (8 oz) baby portabello mushrooms, chopped
8 ounces dried porcini, shiitake, black and oyster mushrooms, reconstituted and chopped (optional, but found for 2$ at Trader Joes, you could also use a whole lb of baby bellas)
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 small or 1 medium sized onion, chopped
A good splash (about 1/3 cup) dry white wine (I use Sauvignon Blanc)
2/3 cup Parmesan or romano cheese
3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
salt (I used my wild porcini salt)
pepper
Pour the beef broth into a pan and bring to a simmer, this will be added later.
Heat a dutch oven or stock pot over medium high heat and add the olive oil and butter. Once the butter melts add the mushrooms and cook until softened and translucent. Add the mushrooms salt and pepper to taste and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the farro and toast lightly for another 5 minutes. Once the farro starts to soften a bit, add the white wine. Let the wine cook until the alcohol evaporates.
Time to start adding the broth. While stirring regularly, add the broth to the mushroom and farro mixture. I used a soup ladle and started with 2 ladles full. Once the broth is absorbed into the farro, add 2 more ladles of broth. Keep stirring. Continue until all the broth is gone. Don't forget to stir! The risotto is done once the liquid is almost completely absorbed. You want it to be creamy and smooth not thick and chunky. Remove from the heat and stir in Parmesan cheese. Top with chopped parsley.
*Farro, a cousin or barley, is commonly used in many Italian dishes. We picked up a big bag from Costco to mix up the usual quinoa and couscous rotation and I decided to use it for this risotto because I felt it would hold up nicely with the strong taste of the mushrooms.
