This wild mushroom risotto recipe is brought to you in partnership with my friends at La Cucina Italiana. As always opinions are 100 percent my own.
Risotto is one of the dishes in my arsenal that I love to teach.
I seem to forget about it as one of my personal favorites until fall rolls around and I’m really hankering for something thick and rich to pack on the requisite sweater weather extra padding.
A few weeks ago, a couple I was doing a private class for requested a vegan mushroom risotto. So I wrote up a recipe and then held their hand as they slowly added the stock, cup by cup, until all the starchy goodness was coaxed from every last grain.
The worst part of teaching is when, after all that love and hard work and delicious smells, you have to leave. After this particular class, I ordered Thai takeout en route to my apartment, and it was one of the sadder meals in recent memory. Ever since that night I’ve been craving mushroom risotto with a fiery passion. Luckily, I had an excuse to have a second go of it for a date night with Charlie.
Risotto is one of those intimidating dishes that’s actually really simple. What makes it scary is that a recipe won’t really help you because so much of the process depends on instinct and feel. That’s why I like to teach it. But the basic concept is taking a high-starch grain (traditionally Arborio rice) and toasting it in oil so that it maintains its shape during the slow cooking process. Then, you allow the grains to gradually absorb stock, one cup at a time, until they’ve released their starches and become tender.
When I’m entertaining, I’ll follow this process until the grains are al dente with just a little bit of bite. Then right before my guests arrive, or while everyone is drinking wine, I’ll finish it off with the last cup of stock. You don’t want the dish to be heavy or gluey. There should be a good amount of liquid left at the end of the process so that the risotto spreads out on a plate instead of perching like a hockey puck in the middle of it.
I learned this litmus test for making risotto when I was studying abroad in Rome, and I love checking in with great sources from the homeland to get inspiration for new combinations. La Cucina Italiana is one of my favorites since it has an entire section of their recipe database dedicated to risotto, which contains a lot of easy risotto recipes. I can’t wait to try a few more of them this fall.
In the meantime, I’ve been enjoying leftovers of this vegan wild mushroom risotto for the last week and have nearly kicked my craving. Hopefully by this point, my sweaters still fit.
With health and hedonism,
Phoebe
Vegan Wild Mushroom Risotto with Leeks & Fennel
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil divided
- 1 1/4 pound mixed wild mushrooms cremini, Portobello, shitake, chanterelle, oyster or maitake, cleaned, stems trimmed, and chopped
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
- Sea salt
- 1 medium fennel bulb finely diced
- 1 medium leek white and light green parts only, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 cup Arborio rice
- ½ cup dry white wine
- 1 quart vegetable stock
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped chives for garnish
Instructions
- In a large Dutch oven or saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over a medium-high flame. Sauté the mushrooms until nicely browned and their liquid has been released, about 5 minutes. Add the rosemary and season generously with salt. Cook one minute more. Remove the mushroom mixture to a bowl.
- Add the remaining olive oil to the pan and sauté the fennel and leeks over medium heat until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, one minute more. Stir in the rice and toast until the edges are opaque and the center pearly white, about 2 minutes. Add the wine and 1 teaspoon sea salt to the pan, scraping up any brown bits, and cook until reduced by half.
- Meanwhile, heat the stock in the microwave or on the stove until warm, but not scalding.
- Add 1 cup of the stock to the pan. Bring to a simmer, then turn the heat down to medium low and gently cook until nearly absorbed. Repeat this process, adding stock by ½ cup measures, until the rice is tender, about 25 minutes. You want the risotto to be loose enough that it will spread on a plate, so add more stock as necessary for it’s not gloppy. Stir in the reserved mushrooms and half the chives. Taste for seasoning. Garnish with the remaining chives and serve immediately.
Nutrition
If you make this, tag @phoebelapine and #feedmephoebe - I'd love to see it!
Thanks for passing along your fierce risotto craving to me. Now I’m in agony.
Like you, as soon as the temperature drops I immediately start craving comfort foods – especially “meaty” mushrooms – and since learning I’m allergic to wheat, risotto tops my list. Thanks for the inspiration (and motivation) to finally make some from scratch! Beautiful, fierce-craving-inducing photos, for sure.
Thanks Melissa! You should definitely have no fear and give homemade risotto a try. It’s SO much better than anything premade that you would buy. Though I do have a favorite Italian restaurant that makes a mean bowl. Cheers!
Good recipe, love the rosemary & white wine. Dried porcini are of course wonderful in this recipe, and Better than Bouillon’s No Chicken Chicken Broth makes it vegetarian. Looking ahead to Thanksgiving, I’ve used turkey broth for this recipe too, and it has real umami when you’ve made your own stock from turkey bones simmered all day.
Thanks D! I just got a huge container of dried porcini from Roland for my next recipe dev. project. They would have been perfect for this! And yes, I actually used Better than Bouillon when I made it! Such an easy space-efficient short cut. Though of course homemade stock is the best. Perhaps I will steal some bones and make some next weekend. xo
Hi! Would love to try this recipe.. What can i use instead of the wine? (Something nonalcoholic)
Thanks!
Hi Sarah, hmmm. That’s a tough one. Wine is so traditional for risotto. You could always omit it and add 1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar to give it a little bit of acid. A tablespoon of lemon juice might have a similar effect. Just use really good chicken or vegetable stop to make up for what you’ll lose in flavor. Good luck!
I made this recipe last night for myself and husband and it was absolutely amazing. Thank you XX
yay!!
I made this yesterday for my vegan daughter who is recovering from having her wisdom teeth pulled. It was delicious. I loved your instructions for making sure the rice absorbs the liquid. It was spot on. The flavors were layered. We will definitely make this again.
so glad she could have this yummy dish during recovery!
i love mushroom its really to eat and good for health i must try wild mushroom to thanks for your post.
Is there something we can use besides abarrio rice (more whole grain alternative)?
You can use farro for risotto, but it won’t be GF.