In my last post a went on about the joy that is my Mario Batali cookbook. And now here’s some evidence.
A few weeks ago I bought a bag of Arborio-style rice and kept on meaning to make me some risotto. Then I realized that I had some leftover chicken broth in the fridge… a perfect reason to make risotto. I wasn’t sure what kind of risotto I wanted so I started going through my entire cookbook collection until something struck my fancy. As usual Mario struck my fancy with his Risotto with Mushrooms and Vin Santo.
Of course I wasn’t too sure about what Vin Santo even was. Luckily Mario suggests substituting Dry Sherry which was an easy one because I’ve been experimenting with Chinese food a lot recently and have a good bottle of Dry Sherry that I’m working on. So that was easy. I ended up doing a lot of substituting in this recipe. I couldn’t find porcini mushrooms. I’m sure if I went to Whole Foods or something I would have found them but I had a case of the lazies and didn’t feel like travelling to spend an exorbitant amount on fungus. Instead I used a mix of cremini and portobello mushrooms. The butter I used was salted. This frustrates me. Actually the whole pricing and presentation of butter in Toronto frustrates me. But that is a story for another post. Long story short, I only have salted butter in my fridge right now.
Some people think that risotto making is time-consuming and labour intensive, I beg to differ. Sure you have to stir risotto fairly constantly but it’s not a particularly stressful process. Grab the wooden spoon, maybe a glass of vino and stir away. You can even step away for a minute or two to fast forward through the commercials on your TiVo. Just a suggestion.
This turned out OK. My one complaint is that the dish was, dare I say, too boozy. I know, I didn’t think that could be possible. I’m thinking that maybe something gets lost in the vin santo to dry sherry translation – I’d definitely reduce the amount next time. Actually, I’d like to try vin santo but I just searched the LCBO site and the cheapest bottle is $20+. I also wish that I had a more intense mushroom taste. It wasn’t bad at all, it just wasn’t my favourite Mario recipe, but I don’t blame it on him yet because I did make a ton of changes.
Rating: *** (out of 5)
Risotto With Mushrooms And Vin Santo
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 medium red onion, finely chopped
8 ounces porcini, sliced
8 ounces shittake mushrooms, stems removed, caps sliced
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
8 cups chicken stock, heated until hot
1 cup vin santo *
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 medium red onion, finely chopped
8 ounces porcini, sliced
8 ounces shittake mushrooms, stems removed, caps sliced
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
8 cups chicken stock, heated until hot
1 cup vin santo *
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1) In a 10 to 12 inch saute pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat until almost smoking. Add the onion and cook until softened and translucent but not browned, 8 to 10 minutes.
2) Add the mushrooms and saute until lightly browned. Add the rice and stir until thoroughly coated and opaque, about 3 minutes.
3) Add a 4 to 6 ounce ladeful of the stock and cook, stirring, until the liquid is absorbed. Continue stirring and adding the stock a ladleful at a time, waiting until the liquid is absorbed each time before adding more, until the rice is tender and creamy but still al dente, about 18 minutes.
4) Add the vin santo and cook until the alcohol smell is gone, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the butter and Parmigiano, and stir vigorously for 25 seconds. Season with salt and pepper, divide the risotto among four warmed plates, and serve.
*If you can’t find vin santo, Mario Batali recommends using dry sherry.
From by Mario Batali
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