Gooner’s Wild Mushroom Risotto

Ingredients

For the risotto:
1tbsp Olive oil
4-5 banana shallots, peeled and finely sliced
300g fresh wild mushrooms, chopped
1 tsp puréed roasted garlic
350g Arborio rice
250ml white wine (should not be cheap, sweet wine; worth spending extra on decent dry white)
~1.25 litres of homemade mushroom stock
1-2 tbsp crème fraîche
Salt & Pepper to season

For the Mushroom Stock:
2 litres of boiling water
1 stick of celery, roughly chopped
1 clove of garlic, whole and unpeeled
½ head of fennel, roughly chopped
½ white onion, roughly chopped
Large handful of dried mushrooms; (porcinis, morels, cèpes etc are all fine)
1 bay leaf
3 sprigs thyme
Handful of chives, unchopped
1 tbsp parsley, roughly chopped including stems
1 tsp whole black peppercorns
Dash of white wine vinegar
(optional  ¼ of a chicken carcass)


Method:

1.	Combine the ingredients for the mushroom stock in a large pot. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for at least 1 hour, ideally longer.  When finished strain the stock into a jug with a chinois to remove any sediment, and set aside.
2.	Whilst the stock is infusing, heat the oven to ~160°C and roast 2-3 cloves of unpeeled garlic on a baking tray for ~10-15 minutes, until the skin separates easily from the garlic and the flesh is soft enough to mash easily with a fork.
3.	Sauté the shallots in the olive oil for 5-10 mins over a medium heat, until they are starting to turn golden.
4.	Add the chopped wild mushrooms to the same pan and sweat them for 2 mins.
5.	Turn the heat up to high and add the rice, white wine and roasted garlic purée. Allow the wine to boil off and turn the heat back down to medium.
6.	Gradually add the mushroom stock to the mixture in the pan, trying to ensure the rice grains remain covered, without adding too much stock at once. The rice will take ~20 mins of gradually absorbing stock to become fully cooked, you should taste check regularly after 15 minutes. You might not need all of your stock, conversely you may need to add a little extra boiling water.
7.	When the rice has cooked, take the risotto off the heat, quickly stir in the crème fraîche, and season to taste with salt & pepper. You can garnish with a small swirl of crème fraîche or parmesan shavings. It’s vital you serve it very quickly once it has cooked though, if it continues to be heated too long the rice grains will lose their structure and the whole risotto will become a gloopy mess!