Wild mushroom risotto with truffle oil

Serves 2-4

2 tbsp olive oil
25g butter
1 onion or shallot, peeled and finely chopped
handful of dried wild mushrooms (such as Italian porcini), soaked in a cup of warm water – keep the water and add it into your stock; you can also boil the mushrooms in the stock
approx. 1 litre vegetable stock
200g risotto rice (such as arborio or carnaroli)
150ml dry white wine
salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp freshly grated parmesan cheese and some extra shavings
truffle oil (optional)

Keep the stock hot all the time. In a separate pan heat the olive oil and half of the butter, add the onion and fry very slowly for about 15 minutes without colouring until softened. Then add the mushrooms (I keep them in quite big bits, you can chop them if you wish), fry for another minute, and add rice and turn up the heat.

Fry the rice, stirring all the time. After a minute it will look slightly translucent. Add the wine and keep stirring for minute, until alcohol will evaporate. Season with salt and pepper.

Once the wine has cooked into the rice, add a ladle of hot stock and turn down the heat to a simmer so the rice doesn’t cook too quickly on the outside. Keep adding ladlefuls of stock, stirring – you will notice a creamy starch from the rice. This is why you have to allow each ladleful to be absorbed before adding the next. This will take around 15-20 minutes, until the rice is cooked.

Remove from the heat and add the remaining butter and parmesan. Stir well and allow to rest for 2 minutes – this will make risotto really creamy and oozy. Serve immediately (as risotto cannot be reheated!) drizzled with some truffle oil and parmesan shavings on the top.