Wild mushroom, chard and goat’s cheese risotto
- Published: 16 Sep 15
- Updated: 18 Mar 24
This wild mushroom, chard and goat’s cheese risotto recipe shows off the best of autumn’s bounty.
Ingredients
- 100g unsalted butter
- Olive oil for frying
- 400g girolle mushrooms (or mixed wild mushrooms)
- 200g rainbow chard, stalks trimmed slightly, leaves and stalks separated
- 2 lemons
- 1.25 litres mix equal parts fresh chicken stock and water, or veg stock (see tips)
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
- 300g risotto rice (we used vialone nano)
- 80ml dry white wine
- Small bunch each fresh dill, mint and basil
- 100g soft ash-coated goat’s cheese, broken into chunks
- 60g blanched hazelnuts, lightly toasted in a medium oven
- Grated parmesan and extra-virgin olive oil to serve (optional)
Method
- Melt 50g of the butter and a splash of olive oil in a large frying pan over a high heat. When the butter foams, add the mushrooms, making sure they’re spread out (cook in batches if the pan is crowded). Season, then cook on one side for 2-3 minutes without moving them until the undersides are deep golden. Repeat on the other side. Set aside in a mixing bowl.
- Put the chard stalks in a colander and pour over a kettleful of boiling water. Put the frying pan back on the heat and add a glug of olive oil. Once the oil is hot, add the stalks and fry over a medium heat until almost tender. Add the chard leaves and the juice of 1 lemon, then cook for 2 minutes more. Remove from the heat and add to the mushrooms.
- Put the stock in a saucepan and heat over a medium-low heat – it should be steaming, not boiling. Meanwhile, wipe the frying pan clean, then add the remaining butter and melt over a medium-low heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 6-8 minutes until softened and translucent, stirring now and then.
- Increase the heat under the frying pan to medium, then add the rice and stir for 1-2 minutes until it has an even sheen. Add the wine and stir until absorbed. Add a ladleful of the stock and stir gently until absorbed.
- Keep adding the stock a ladleful at a time, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan and around the inside to make sure the rice cooks evenly. You don’t need to stand over the risotto, but give it a few stirs between each ladleful, making sure the liquid has been absorbed before adding more.
- When all the stock has been used up, the rice is just tender and the consistency is as it should be (see Know-how), add the zest and juice of the remaining lemon and season well with salt and pepper. Chop most of the herbs (pick the leaves of the rest and set aside), then add to the risotto with the mushroom and chard mixture. Stir gently, giving everything enough time to warm through. Gently mix in the remaining herbs and the goat’s cheese, then taste and season (see tips). Scatter over the nuts. Serve sprinkled with grated cheese and drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil, if you like.
- Recipe from September 2015 Issue
Nutrition
- Calories
- 719kcals
- Fat
- 38.3g (18.6g saturated)
- Protein
- 16.6g
- Carbohydrates
- 68.7g (4.5g sugars)
- Fibre
- 4.6g
- Salt
- 1.1g
delicious. tips
Taste and season before you serve the dish – the risotto will need a generous amount of salt and a good squeeze of lemon juice.
We’ve used a mix of water and stock, as strong chicken stock can be overpowering. If you’re using vegetable stock, there’s no need to dilute it.
Check the consistency of the finished risotto by spooning a little onto a plate. It shouldn’t stay stiff but should ‘sigh’ and softly spread – the Italians call this all’onda, meaning ‘like a wave’. If necessary, stir in a splash or two more water.
A soft and ripe but dry Italian white, such as a fiano from Sicily.
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