A creamy and fresh Italian favourite, risotto. This dish has the heartiness of a winter meal yet fresh enough for warmer spring days. This Portobello Mushroom & Spinach Risotto will have you going back for seconds.
Have you ever made risotto? It’s honestly a whole lot easier than you might think and it’s all cooked in one pot. Which means easy clean up and we all love that right? This risotto is loaded with earthy mushrooms, parmesan cheese and it’s so creamy. Not stodgy like you might think. It’s great served as a main course, a side dish or even as a starter in smaller portion.
It’s great served along roasted chicken like the Roasted Spatchcock Chicken, Zesty Pan Seared Salmon, or even the Dijon Mustard Pork Medallions. You decide!
Ingredients to Make The Mushroom & Spinach Risotto
- 2 Cups portobello mushrooms, sliced
- 1 Cup baby spinach
- 4 Cups vegetable stock (more if necessary)
- 1 medium white onion, finely chopped
- 1 1/2 Cups arborio rice
- 3/4 Cup white wine
- 1 Cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese about 4 ounces
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cloves Garlic, crushed
- Small bunch of fresh chopped parsley
- Salt to taste
REMEMBER, The full recipe and instructions is found at the end of the post in the recipe card.
Instructions
- Heat olive oil with garlic – Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a medium sized deep sided pan. Add the garlic and stir for a minute.
- Cook the onion – Add the onion and stir, cook for a further 5 minutes until the onions are light golden and soft.
- Add the mushrooms – Add the sliced mushrooms and cook them down for about 8 minutes until golden brown and soft.
- Fry the rice – Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and the rice. Stir well to coat and let it fry for 1 -2 minutes until the edges become a little translucent.
- Pour in the wine – Add all the wine at once and stir well. Let the wine evaporate completely, about 2 – 3 minutes.
- Add stock and stir – Add one cup/240 ml of vegetable stock and stir well. Occasionally stir until it evaporates, about 3 minutes. Add another cup of stock and the broccoli, stir well and leave to cook stirring regularly until the stock has evaporated., about another 3 minutes or so. Add another cup and repeat. Repeat until you have about 1/2 cup/120 ml of stock left.
- Finish risotto – Add the spinach, cheese, fresh basil, and salt. Stir well and immediately remove from heat.
- Garnish and serve – Garnish with a little extra parmesan and basil if desired. Serve immediately.
Risotto Tips
- Always use good quality stock – As a lot of stock is used, make sure the one you are using is worthy of your dish. So, no stock cubes. If you don’t want to make your stock, you can usually buy quality stock in cartons. Try this and you will note a difference.
- Prep everything before you start – Make sure all ingredients are chopped, grated, heated and ready to go. With risotto, timing is everything and you don’t want to be at a stage to add an ingredient and you haven’t already chopped or peeled it. So, have everything ready before you start.
- Keep stirring the risotto – This is key so it doesn’t stick and the rice cooks evenly. Stirring and gradually adding stock as the risotto cooks, will ensure even cooking an a creamy texture.
- Serve immediately – Risottos are at their absolute creaminess as soon as you take them off the stove top. It isn’t a good idea to cook this and wait a while to serve it. Otherwise, the risotto will dry out and go quite stodgy. So keep this in mind, if you haven’t made risotto before and think that maybe it is like some other rice dishes.
Are There Any Substitutions I can Make To This Risotto
- Portobello mushrooms – Portobello mushrooms are not too different to any other white mushrooms or button mushrooms. They are from the same family, just a bit more mature lets say. Because of their maturity, they do have a slightly stronger flavour which works really well in this risotto. You can use white button mushrooms in their place.
- Arborio rice – Arborio rice and it’s a variety of short-grain rice that has a high starch content, which is what lends to a creamy end dish. If you don’t have any, make sure to chose another short grain rice to use in it’s place.
- Baby spinach – You can easily substitute regular spinach, just make sure to chop it a little smaller.
- Fresh basil – If you prefer you can use fresh parsley in it’s place.
Frequently Asked Questions
Stirring the rice constantly is key. It’s important because the creaminess will come from the starch created through stirring.
A heavy bottomed skillet works best. The heavy bottom will create even heat while cooking and help prevent the rice sticking.
Yes you can, no problem at all. Just try to use one that has a heavy bottom to help prevent sticking.
Generally if your risotto is crunchy, the rice hasn’t cooked all the way through. You can correct this in the future by adding a little more stock while cooking. Another reason is that you probably cooked it too long in the oil before adding the wine or stock.
Wine is used to enhance flavour just after you quickly fry the rice. You can easily skip this step and use broth in it’s place.
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Portobello Mushroom & Spinach Risotto
Ingredients
- 2 Cups portobello mushrooms sliced
- 1 Cup baby spinach
- 4 Cups vegetable stock (more if necessary)
- 1 medium white onion finely chopped
- 1 1/2 Cups arborio rice
- 3/4 Cup white wine
- 1 Cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese about 4 ounces
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cloves Garlic crushed
- Small bunch of fresh chopped parsley
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a medium sized deep sided pan. Add the garlic and stir for a minute. Add the onion and stir, cook for a further 5 minutes until the onions are light golden and soft.
- Add the sliced mushrooms and cook them down for about 8 minutes until golden brown and soft.
- Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and the rice. Stir well to coat and let it fry for 1 -2 minutes until the edges become a little translucent.
- Add all the wine at once and stir well. Let the wine evaporate completely, about 2 – 3 minutes.
- Add one cup/240 ml of vegetable stock and stir well. Occasionally stir until it evaporates, about 3 minutes.
- Add another cup of stock, stir well and leave to cook stirring regularly until the stock has evaporated., about another 3 minutes or so. Add another cup and repeat. Repeat until you have about 1/2 cup/120 ml of stock left.
- Add the spinach, cheese, fresh basil, and salt. Stir well and immediately remove from heat.
- Garnish with a little extra parmesan and basil if desired. Serve immediately.
*A note on times provided: appliances vary, any prep and/or cook times provided are estimates only.
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