Mushrooms are showing up everywhere lately, and this recipe from The Mushroom Lover’s Cookbook looked like a good delivery device for chantrelles… not to mention, our first attempt at making risotto! (Stir, stir, stir… ) The corn and mushroom flavors really complemented each other, and the risotto went really well with our Cinque Terre wine, which finally arrived from Italy!

Chris says:

Hey, our wine arrived, and no breakage!

Lisa says:

Wahoo!

Chris says:

So what do you think — did we succeed with the risotto?

Lisa says:

I certainly think so — just needs a little extra salt…

Chris says:

Part of that is probably due to my using low-sodium broth.

Lisa says:

Well other than that I love it. The mushrooms rule. I thought the corn would be weird, but it’s not.

Chris says:

Yeah, I think this turned out really well. I like how creamy the risotto is, even without the mushroom mixture. I think I probably could have cooked the risotto just a tad more, but other than that I say “great success”!

Risotto with Corn and Chantrelles
3 cups chicken broth
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 onion, finely chopped
1 cup Arborio rice
1/2 cup white wine
sea salt
freshly ground pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
8 oz chantrelles, trimmed, cleaned, and sliced 1/2 inch thick
2 shallots, finely minced
2 tsp minced garlic
3/4 cup corn kernels
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp cilantro, chopped

Bring the chicken stock to a simmer in a medium-sized saucepan, then lower the heat to just keep warm.
Melt 1/2 the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat until foaming. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in the rice to coat, then add the wine. Cook an additional minute.
Reduce the heat to low and stir in one ladleful of stock at a time. As each addition is absorbed, continue to add stock ladle by ladle, stirring and cooking, until all but 1/2 cup of the stock remains and the rice is tender but firm. Season to taste with salt and pepper, turn off the heat, and cover.
Heat the remaining butter and the olive oil in a medium-sized pan over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and stir until they release their liquid, about 2 minutes. Add the shallots and garlic and reduce the heat to medium. Continue cooking until the shallots are softened, 2 more minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
When ready to serve, add the milk and corn to the mushrooms and stir until the milk is hot. Remove from the heat and stir in half of the cilantro.
Warm the remaining chicken broth and stir into the rice. Ladle the risotto into soup plates. Top with the mushroom mixture and the remaining cilantro.

4 Servings