Spinach and porcini risotto
by
This vibrant risotto recipe has spinach purée folded through it to achieve the bright green colour and is flavoured with earthy porcini mushrooms. Check out Anna's other spinach recipes here.
Ingredients
- 400g of carnaroli risotto rice
- 1 onion , finely chopped
- 1/2 head of celery
- 3 garlic cloves , finely chopped
- 4 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 400g of spinach , washed and de-stemmed
- 20g of dried porcini mushrooms
- 300ml of white wine
- 1l chicken stock, or vegetable stock
- 200g of unsalted butter
- 75g of Parmesan , grated
- 6 tsp mascarpone , (optional)
- salt
- pepper
Method
1
Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Place the dried porcini into a mixing bowl and pour over enough boiling water to submerge them fully (about 300ml). Cover and set aside
2
Plunge the spinach into the pan of boiling water and cook for 2 minutes. The spinach wants to be cooked, not in any way al dente. Drain and allow to cool slightly
3
Once the spinach is cool enough to handle, squeeze out some of the excess liquid. Chop half the spinach relatively finely. Place the other half in a blender with 3–4 tablespoons of stock and blend to a puree. This may seem like a bit of a faff but the result is that you have a green risotto that still has some texture from the chopped spinach.
4
Heat your stock and keep at a murmuring simmer. Make sure you’re happy with the seasoning as this is what will season your risotto
5
Melt three-quarters of the butter in a saucepan and then add the onion and celery. Sweat on a very low heat for 5 minutes, then add the garlic and thyme. Season with salt and pepper and continue to sweat for another 5 minutes. It is important that nothing colours so keep the heat very low
6
Drain your porcini (reserving the liquor) and roughly chop. Add them to the risotto base and cook for 5 minutes
7
Add the rice, turn up the heat and stir well, allowing each grain to be coated in the buttery base. Cook on a high heat for two minutes until the rice becomes slightly translucent. Pour in the wine and keep stirring, until almost all the wine has boiled off
8
Lower the heat and add a ladle of stock, along with the sieved porcini liquor. The risotto should be blip-blip boiling, not faster. The amount you stir the risotto will reflect how creamy it is at the end; the more you stir, the creamier the result. Once the stock has nearly been absorbed, add another ladle. Continue like this for 15 minutes
9
At this point taste the risotto and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper if necessary. The rice should still be a little too al dente to eat but not far off from being ready. If you think your rice is still at a crunchier stage then keep cooking, until you reach a delicate crunch
10
Now add your pureed and chopped spinach and stir in. The texture of the risotto should be like a loose porridge. Adjust with stock as necessary (you may not need to use all the stock). Cook for the final two minutes. Taste again and make sure you’re happy with the texture of the rice – a little bite, nothing harsher
11
Add the remaining butter and almost all of Parmesan and stir well together. Remove from the heat and allow to sit for 2 minutes, so that everything combines properly and gets to know each other
12
Spoon onto plates and, if using, place a teaspoon of mascarpone on top of each portion. Grate over the remaining Parmesan. Eat straight away or else the risotto will go claggy
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Spinach and porcini risotto
