Mari’s Mushroom & Miso Risotto
I make this vegan using non-dairy butter and cheese, use whatever products that work for your diet and preferences.
You can use any mixture of mushrooms that you like/find. Wild mushrooms are fantastic but not always easy to find. Cremini and shitake are my favorites, I usually do about half of each.
This pairs beautifully with Emeritus Vineyards 2019 Hallberg Ranch and many of our other wines!
Ingredients
- ~~For the Miso Butter~~
- 5 tbsp. Softened Butter
- 3 tbsp. Mellow White Miso
- ~~For the Risotto ~~
- 1 tbsp. Butter
- 1 lb. Assorted Mushrooms, cleaned and sliced into 1/2-inch pieces
- 5-6 cloves Garlic, chopped, divided
- 2 tbsp Thyme. roughly chopped, divided, plus some for garnish
- 1 large Leek, white and tender green parts diced
- 1 ½ C Arborio Rice
- ½ C Dry White Wine
- 3 +/- Quarts Vegetable Broth (low sodium is best so you can control the salt level better)
- 1/3 C Parmesan Cheese, grated, plus more for garnish
Directions
To make the miso butter mix the room temperature butter and miso together with a fork or spoon, combine them well!
Begin heating your broth, you’ll want it to be steaming hot when you add to the risotto.
In a large Dutch oven or deep pan melt 1 tbsp. of butter over medium heat and add your mushrooms and a good pinch of salt and pepper.
Cook down mushrooms for about 8-10 minutes, don’t stir for the first few minutes to get them a little crispy.
Add in half of the miso butter, half of the garlic, and half of the chopped thyme. Cook, stirring a few times for another 1-2 minutes until the garlic is cooked and your whole kitchen smells delicious.
Remove mushrooms from your pan and set aside.
Keep heat on medium and add the remaining miso butter, once melted add in leeks, remaining garlic and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Cook until leeks are soft, about 2-3 minutes.
Add arborio rice and stir to coat and toast, cook about 2 minutes.
Add the wine and stir to deglaze the pan (this gets all the good bits off the bottom of the pan and prevents rice from sticking to the bottom).
Once the wine has cooked add a ladle of broth and stir the rice mixture until the broth has mostly been absorbed.
Continue to add broth, one ladleful at a time, and stirring the risotto frequently, this builds the starch to make the risotto creamy and prevents burning. This process takes about 30 minutes (maybe more, maybe less), begin to test for doneness after about 25 minutes. You may like more or less al dente rice. Cook to your liking and adjust salt and pepper.
Once the rice is done to your liking and the last ladle of broth has been absorbed add back in the mushrooms and stir until they are warmed.
Take off heat and mix in the remaining thyme and parmesan cheese.
Garnish with thyme leaves and parmesan, serve alongside your favorite Emeritus Vineyards Pinot!