This is one of my favourite go-to recipes for wild mushrooms. It's easy, quick and tasty with few ingredients. It can also be adapted to vegan or dairy-free diets.
While simply frying mushrooms on the pan is probably the best and simplest way to go, when you have a basketload you might want to diversify the cooking routine.
Cooking time: 20mins
Preparation time 5-10mins
Portions: For 2 active and hungry adults or 3-4 people with smaller appetites.
Ingredients
300g of field or horse mushrooms
300g of arborio rice
3 cloves of garlic (or more if you are fond of garlic)
1 stock cube (your choice here but vegetable or chicken work best. If you can find a mushroom stock, even better)
900mls of water
2 tablespoons of chopped parsley or rocket to finish
Optional:
1 tablespoon of grated parmesan cheese
or
1 tablespoon of nutritional yeast
Squeezed juice of half a lemon
Method
Chop the mushrooms into slices or chunks.
Chop the garlic into slices
Boil the kettle and add 1ltr of boiling water to the stock cube and stir so it is well-mixed
Heat a medium sized saucepan to medium heat and add a splash of olive oil
Fry the garlic briefly until you can smell it (make sure the pan is not too hot so it will burn)
Add the chopped mushrooms and stir fry with garlic for 2-3mins
Add the rice and stir fry with mixture - you may reduce the heat a little at this point
Once the rice is completely covered with the garlic and mushroom mixture, add 1/4 of the stock and allow the rice to soak.
Once the liquid has been absorbed, add the next 1/4 - same as before allow to absorb and add the next 1/4 until all the liquid is added.
The risotto should be slightly liquid when ready, not dry. If it's dry, add some more liquid. Add the nutritional yeast or parmesan and stir.
Add the lemon juice (this is also optional - I find it can enhance the flavour)
Leave to absorb and rest for 3-4 minutes before serving.
You can finish the dish by adding some greens. Parsley, coriander or rocket are most popular but you could also add another green of your choice.
Serve and enjoy! :-)
**I am a freestyler as a cook so please feel free to add your own twist to this recipe and leave out or add ingredients you feel work better. Cooking should be a creative process with plenty of experimentation and room for adaptation. Please share your updates with me if something unusual worked well!