Can you use normal white mushrooms for a risotto?

[SillyTilly123]

I fancy making a risotto as i've never tried one but want to but dont want to pay for one in a restaurant incase i dont like it. However i only have white mushrooms not porcini which most recipes list. Also any fool proof recipes out there?

[Chubfuddler]

If you buy the risotto rice in the green box there's a recipe on the side.

You do need the glass of wine but I find you don't need to stand there ladling in the stock a ladle at a time. I do it all at once and it's fine.

[DeepRedBetty]

I always use bog standard mushrooms. And I don't bother with the wine, but that's because the children eat it too. I might if it was for grown-ups only (although it would be hard to chuck perfectly good white wine in food when it tastes so nice chilled in a glass).

[PetiteRaleuse]

I think this one would work: www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1897681/bacon-and-mushroom-risotto

I make risotto with normal mushrooms but use things like white wine or/and lardons to up the flavour. Porcini, chestnut mushrooms etc are just more flavoursome, and risotto can taste quite bland.

[TheSkiingGardener]

The only things you need for risotto are the right rice and some liquid to cook it in. Everything else is a matter of taste.

Fry the rice in the oil for half a minute before you add the liquid as it helps the creamy texture to develop. I always add lemon juice and Parmesan near the end too.

[Gemini1974]

I use normal mushrooms but if you want to make it spectacular, mix in a jar of mushroom antipasto at the end. It looks phenomenal with all the different mushrooms and it's really tasty

[piprabbit]

Yes, you can use ordinary mushrooms. I often fry my separately to give them a bit of colour and carmelisation [cheffy emoticon] before adding them to the risotto.

In fact, you can put most stuff in a risotto. Peas are good. Any hard cheese grated finely. Leftover chicken (make you sure you heat through properly). Ham.

Yum.

[SillyTilly123]

Thanks for all the suggestions, i have a bag of arborio (sp) rice which i think is the kind you use? Though i dont have parmesan as i never buy it, just cheddar (mild-we're cheese wimps ) Will give it a go later :)

[Chubfuddler]

Ok so what I do is lightly fry onion and garlic in butter, add 75g of arborio rice per person, give that a stir for a couple of mins, pour in a glass of white wine and stir that for a couple of mins, then in with the stock. If I'm adding something raw like mushrooms or asparagus they go in at this point, if its just ham and peas I do it when it's nearly ready.

If I were adding lardons or bacon they would go in at the start with the onion and garlic.

Once the stock is almost completely absorbed I take it off the heat, add a nob of butter and a ton of parmasen and leave it with lid on for give minutes.

Yum yum

I know what I'm having for dinner.

[Naoko]

I'm too cheap for porcini mushrooms, I always use normal ones. I do fry them off separately though and add them a few minutes before the risotto is done. Parmesan in risotto is lovely but cheddar works fine and is a hell of a lot cheaper.

And yeah you can put pretty much anything in a risotto. The three I do most often is mushrooms&spring onions, chicken&crunchy green veg, and smoked salmon, prawns and peas.

[exexpat]

You can use normal white mushrooms but it makes the risotto a bit bland - porcini are much more strongly flavoured. I often use Chinese or Japanese dried shiitake mushrooms, which are a lot cheaper than porcini if you buy them in an Asian grocery. The water you use to soak them in makes good stock too.

[AprilFoolishness]

Fry the mushrooms off seprately in some butter with garlic and dried thyme, then a squeeze of lemon just at the end, and stir into the risotto with all the lovley buttery juicy bit. Yum yum.

For the risotto base soften a finely chopped onion till clear in oil, throw in the rice and give it a good stir around in the oil first, then a glass of wine. Then stock in, cup by cup, adding more as it absorbs, keep stirring and tasting so you can tell when the rice texture is nearly cooked.

When nearly ready add in your mushrooms, good scrunch of pepper, handful of cheese (parmesan is nice, cheddar will be fine, soft cheese like taleggio or marscapone also nice - makes it very creamy, blue cheese good with bacon bits...), bit more grated on top. Enjoy!