Mushroom Risotto for under £3

Martin Pilkington
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This recipe was part of a series of recipes all of which could all be made for around £3. If you have suitable leftover booze – say a glass of white wine or white vermouth – add to the rice before starting on the stock, similarly cooking it until absorbed. Sage leaves, either cut finely and stirred in at the end, or flash-fried and used to decorate each plateful, would be great. If you haven’t got a sage plant in the garden or a window box, it’s worth the effort.

Ingredients

400 g Mushrooms sliced
500 g Risotto Rice
2 medium onions chopped finely
2 garlic cloves crushed and chopped
1.5 l stock made with two chicken or mushroom stock cubes
75 g Butter
4 tbsp oil

Details

Cuisine: Italian
Recipe Type: Main
Difficulty: Easy
Preparation Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 20 mins
Serves: 4

Step-by-step

Put a large pan (a wide casserole pan or a very wide steep-sided frying pan are both fine) over a medium heat and fry the onions in ½ the oil and 1/3 of the butter until they become translucent - don't let them brown.
Reduce the heat to low. Add the garlic and the risotto rice and cook, stirring gently for two minutes to ensure the rice is coated in oil.
Pour in enough hot stock to just cover the rice and increase the heat to medium, stirring the rice every couple of minutes until the liquid is nearly all absorbed. Repeat the process with more stock until the rice grains no longer have a chalky core. If you run out of stock use boiling water.
While the rice is cooking, in a separate frying pan heat the remaining oil and another 1/3 of the butter and cook the mushrooms for about 4 minutes, until they have a nice gloss all over - taste one to see it's done. Set aside.
As soon as the rice is fully cooked, add the mushrooms and all their juices, plus the remaining 25g of butter to the rice pan, and mix together. It should be moist, don't cook it further to dry out.
Check seasoning - it will need salt and I like it with plenty of black pepper - and serve in flat bowls.