Pea, parmesan and saffron risotto with thyme mushrooms

I have said 4 serves but is it very filling if you have lots of veg with it so you could serve 6 with this. You can also use white wine as the first bit of liquid you cook with your rice, but i have left it out.

Have you made risotto before? how did it turn out?

Now if you watch masterchef this is apparently the dish that everyone seems to fail, I have never understood why! lol

You need a lot of liquid, the consistency of risotto should be sloppy like a thick soup, you will need a ladle. The rice shouldn't be crunchy if it is add more liquid. If you overcook it the rice will be mushy it needs to have a little texture still!

Rice is generally quite bland so loves flavors like onion, garlic, cheese, salt, pepper, saffron, things like that.

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 ½ cup of Arborio rice

Approx. 1- 1.2 litre of chicken stock or vegetable stock if vegetarian

300g peas, defrosted (2 cups)

1 cup of parmesan cheese, or to taste

1 brown onion, fine dice

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

A pinch of saffron threads. If you don’t have it you can just leave it out

500g mixed mushrooms, I used button and swiss brown, sliced, but you can use whatever mix you like

½ a 10g pack of thyme, chopped

Method

Heat your stock, this needs to be hot when you use it.

In a large pot heat about 2 tsp olive oil and 2 tsp butter. Put in your onion and garlic and cook for one minute, you don’t want it browning so turn the heat down if you need to. Then add your rice and stir for one minute to coat the rice in the oil.

Add a couple ladles of hot stock and stir. Add in your saffron if using.

You basically keep adding ladlefuls of stock stirring with each addition. When you have a couple of ladles of stock left check your rice to see how cooked it is, it shouldn’t be crunchy, should be nearly there at this stage, if it’s still really crunchy you need to keep adding liquid, if you run out of stock you can use a little water. When you get down to your last bit of stock add in your defrosted peas. Add your last bit of stock and heat through the peas. Again check your rice. The consistency should be a really thick soup, you should need a ladle to serve your risotto. The longer it stands through the more the liquid is absorbed.

Add in a knob of butter and your cheese. Check your seasonings and add salt and pepper if needed.

While your rice is cooking cook your mushrooms with a little olive oil and butter, add your thyme in and cook until the mushrooms have wilted and start releasing juices and start to get some caramelisation. Season well with salt and pepper.

You can also cook extra veg at this stage to serve, I had with steamed asparagus and broccoli.

To serve place your mushrooms at the bottom, then your risotto and whatever vegetables you are using to serve with. You can garnish with some extra shaved parmesan cheese if you like.