Brown-Butter Mushroom Risotto with Miso and Crispy Mushrooms
- Yield
- 6 servings
Date night at home. Risotto asks for attention, so pour a glass and stand at the stove together. Most mushroom risotto is beige on beige; ours splits the mushrooms. Half roast in a hot oven until crisp and frizzled for the top, half melt into the rice. The finish is butter browned until it smells like toasted hazelnuts, with a spoon of white miso whisked in. Rice and Parmesan bring the creamy richness, miso and brown butter the deep savory bass, lemon zest and parsley the lift, and the crispy mushrooms the crunch every spoonful is waiting for.
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Ingredients
Batches and reset
6 servings · US measures · 1 batch
Batching
Cook one batch in each 4-quart wide saucepan; for a larger yield, use a second pan. Stock is always added a cup at a time, and cooking times and cues do not multiply with ingredient quantities.
Original recipe: 6 servings.
Salt and pepper added to taste and the optional hot water are left out of the nutrition estimate. The wine, thyme, celery salt and unsalted vegetable stock have no established nutrition values here.
Before you start
- Read through the recipe before you start; the mushrooms roast while the risotto cooks, and risotto needs you at the stove, so pour a glass and stay close. Gather the saucepans, sheet pan, small skillet and bowl, wooden spoon, ladle, thermometer and the measured ingredients.
Directions
Prep everything and pour a glass
For the whole recipe
Read through the recipe and gather the equipment. Use the ingredient lines to prepare and measure everything, and pour the unsalted vegetable stock into the small saucepan. Everything is prepared and measured before the pans go on the heat.
Roast half the mushrooms crisp
For each pan of risotto
Heat the oven to 450°F (230°C) with a rack in the middle position. Toss about 4 oz shiitake mushroom caps and 4 oz cremini mushrooms with 2 tbsp olive oil and fine salt to taste on an 18- by 13-inch rimmed sheet pan and spread them out in one layer. Roast, stirring once, until deep brown, crisp and frizzled at the edges, about 20 to 25 minutes, and set them aside for the top.
Why it works: two kinds of mushroom in one bowl
Mushrooms stirred into risotto turn soft and silky; mushrooms roasted hot in a single layer turn crisp and intensely savory. Using both gives the bowl texture, so it stops being beige on beige.
If it goes wrong: the mushrooms are steaming, not browning
Mushrooms give up their water first and only brown once it's gone. A crowded pan just stews them, so spread them out, use a second pan if you need to, and wait for the liquid to cook off before you judge the color.
Meanwhile, get the stock steaming
For each pan of risotto
Meanwhile, heat the unsalted vegetable stock in the small saucepan over low heat until it steams, and keep it there while you cook. The stock is steaming hot.
House call: the stock is still our chef's open call
Unsalted is settled; which stock is our chef's open call. A mushroom-kombu stock with no salt added keeps this meatless and doubles down on the mushrooms, while unsalted roasted chicken stock makes it richer; until he decides, the method uses unsalted vegetable stock.
Brown the rest of the mushrooms
For each pan of risotto
Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a 4-quart wide saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in 2 tbsp shallot for a moment, then add about 4 oz shiitake mushroom caps and 4 oz cremini mushrooms and cook, stirring, until the mushrooms soften and brown at the edges.
Coat the rice in butter
For each pan of risotto
Stir in about 1 3/4 cups Arborio rice and 2 tbsp unsalted butter and turn to medium heat. Keep stirring until the butter has melted and the edges of the rice grains look translucent.
Why it works: coat the rice in fat
Stirring the grains in hot butter warms them evenly, so they take up the liquid evenly and keep a slight bite at the center. Stop when the edges look translucent; if the rice starts to brown, pour in the wine straight away.
Tradition: a northern Italian rice dish
Risotto is associated with northern Italy, most likely Lombardy, and with short-grain rice from the Po Valley. Our version is a US home take, with supermarket shiitake and cremini and a Japanese-pantry miso finish.
Pour in the wine and season lightly
For each pan of risotto
Pour in about 1 1/4 cups dry white wine and stir constantly over medium heat until it is almost all absorbed. Stir in the thyme, 1/8 tsp celery salt, fine salt to taste and black pepper to taste. Almost no wine is left in the pan.
House call: go easy on the salt here
The miso and the Parmesan both bring salt later. Season lightly now and save the real call for the taste at the end, off the heat.
Add the first cup of stock
For each pan of risotto
Turn to medium-low heat and ladle in about 1 cup unsalted vegetable stock. Simmer, stirring often, until the rice has absorbed almost all of it, about 7 minutes.
Ladle, stir, repeat
For each pan of risotto
Ladle in about 3 cups unsalted vegetable stock in three equal additions, stirring often over medium-low heat and letting each addition become almost absorbed before adding the next. If the rice is still firm in the center once the stock is used up, add hot water to taste, a splash at a time. The grains are tender with a slight bite and the risotto flows softly when you tilt the pan.
Why it works: hot stock and a steady stir
Stirring rubs starch off the surface of each grain into the liquid, and that starch makes risotto creamy without any cream. Hot stock keeps the simmer going; cold stock stalls the pan every time it goes in.
Meanwhile, brown the butter and whisk in the miso
For each pan of risotto
Meanwhile, melt 2 tbsp unsalted butter in the small skillet over medium heat and cook, swirling, until it foams, smells nutty and the solids on the bottom turn deep golden brown, about 3 to 5 minutes. Pour it into the small bowl right away, scraping in the brown bits, and whisk in 1 tbsp white miso until smooth.
Technique: miso brown butter
Cook the butter past melted until the milk solids on the bottom turn deep golden and it smells like toasted nuts, then get it out of the hot pan so it doesn't burn. Miso whisked in dissolves into the fat and carries its savory depth through every grain.
Finish off the heat, then taste
For each pan of risotto
Take the pan off the heat and stir in about 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese and the miso brown butter. Taste the risotto. Aim for savory and creamy, with earthy mushroom, nutty brown butter and a clear salty finish. If it tastes flat, stir in fine salt to taste, then finish with black pepper to taste. The risotto is creamy and seasoned.
If it goes wrong: it set up stiff
Risotto keeps thickening as it sits. Stir in a splash of hot water off the heat until it flows softly again, and next time pull the pan while it still looks a touch too loose.
Top it and serve right away
For the whole recipe
Spoon the risotto into bowls right away, to make 6 servings, and top it with the crispy mushrooms, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, about 1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley and 1 tsp lemon zest. Cool leftovers quickly and refrigerate them within two hours; reheat them over low heat with a splash of water, stirring, until they reach 165°F (74°C). The risotto is served hot and loose.
Make it yours: from safe to wild
Safe: swap Carnaroli for Arborio; it holds its shape a little better. Bolder: in late summer, fold in charred corn with the Parmesan. Wild: top each bowl with a soft egg and a spoon of chili crisp next to the crispy mushrooms.
About this recipe
Why it works
Toasting the rice in fat before the wine helps each grain cook evenly. Adding hot stock in stages while stirring releases starch for a creamy body, and finishing off the heat with butter and Parmesan gives the soft, flowing texture.
Associated with
Italian risotto technique, in a US home version
Risotto is a northern Italian rice dish, believed to come from Lombardy, made with short-grain rice from the Po Valley. This version pairs it with shiitake and cremini mushrooms sold in US supermarkets.
Taste
- Sweet
- Sour
- Salty
- Bitter
- Savory
- Heat
Shiitake, cremini and Parmesan give deep savoriness., White wine adds a little acidity; thyme and parsley freshen it. · creamy, loose rice with a tender bite, soft, browned mushrooms · hot
Skill level
Some practice
Not hard, but it needs steady stirring and judging when the rice is tender with a slight bite.
Occasions
Lenten abstinence days (Ash Wednesday and the Fridays of Lent)
No meat is listed: it is made with vegetable stock, and butter and cheese are permitted.
Serving and keeping
Best served: Right away, while it still flows softly In warm bowls, with a green salad alongside
Make ahead: Risotto thickens as it cools and is best served at once.
Storage: Cool cooked rice quickly and refrigerate within 2 hours (1 hour above 90 °F / 32 °C); do not hold it warm for long. Freezing is not recommended for texture.
Leftovers: It firms up in the refrigerator; loosen it with a little hot stock as it reheats.
Food safety
- Cooked rice left warm can grow bacteria that make a heat-stable toxin; cool leftovers quickly and refrigerate within 2 hours.
- Cook the shiitake through; raw shiitake can cause a skin reaction in some people.
- Some of the wine's alcohol remains after simmering.
We make no statement about cross-contact in your kitchen or in packaged ingredients. Check the stock, cheese and wine labels.
Nutrition notes
Most of the energy comes from the rice.
Most of the sodium comes from the stock, the Parmesan and the celery salt. Low-sodium stock, less Parmesan and seasoning at the end keep it lower.
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- Recipe url
- https://isthebestrecipe.com/italian/mixed-mushroom-risotto
- Name
- Brown-Butter Mushroom Risotto with Miso and Crispy Mushrooms
- Servings
- 6
- Recipe yield
- 6 servings
- Recipe ingredient
- 8 oz shiitake mushroom caps stems removed before weighing, sliced, 8 oz cremini mushrooms sliced, 3 tbsp olive oil, to taste fine salt, 2 tbsp shallot minced (about half a shallot), about 1 3/4 cups Arborio rice, 4 tbsp unsalted butter divided, about 1 1/4 cups dry white wine, 3 sprigs fresh thyme leaves stripped and chopped, 1/8 tsp celery salt, to taste black pepper freshly ground, about 4 cups unsalted vegetable stock kept hot, 1 tbsp white miso, 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese freshly grated, about 1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley chopped, 1 tsp lemon zest finely grated
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