Wild Mushroom and Scape Risotto

Don’t get it twisted, I love summer and all of the deliciously light dishes the season dictates but once September rolls arounds, I’m all about the savoury. Changing of the seasons equals a changing of the culinary guard for my palette. On a crisp, sunlit, post-work Monday shopping trip to the Market I can think on only one thing….mushrooms. Wonderous, wild mushroom risotto to be specific. It’a all I can taste and I must have it. Now.

When foraging for the best the fall harvest has to offer, you can’t go wrong in The Byward Fruit Market. So many mushrooms it’s honestly hard not to leave with all of them. I manage to exercise some degree of self control and leave with just a few of my absolute favourites: king eryngii, chanterelle, lobster and the delicate and cost-effective cremini. The first three varieties are only produced my a few growers and not sold in most stores so can be pricey. When it comes to these fancy fungi, supply and demand applies, exclusive equals expensive. If you strike a 50% fancy (king eryngii, chanterelle and lobster) / 50% base (cremini) you’ll have a really flavourful risotto without going broke in the process. Yippee. Add some leeks, scape and big splash of white wine and you have yourself the perfect setup for a righteous risotto.

I won’t go on again about how easy it is to make risotto, nor will I reiterate how unnecessary the cheese and cream are. I’ve already covered this ground. What I will say is once you nail your first batch, you will never make rice any other way. So decadent, yet so simple, there’s no excuse to relegate this dish to special occasions or weekends. This is a bonafide weeknight wonder. Now go gather your goods and get going, you have dinner to devour.

Wild Mushroom and ScapeRisotto

Would Rather Gather Original
Prep time: 20 minutes / Active time: 25 minutes / Serves 4 as a main, 6 as a side

For the risotto:

2 tbsp Earth Balance butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup leeks, half and sliced into 1/4″ crescents
1 clove garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
3 cups fresh mushrooms
3 garlic scape. cut into 1″ sections
2 cups or arborio rice, rinsed through a strainer until water runs clear
4 cups vegetable or mushroom stock (mushroom is much richer, vegetable lighter)
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tbsp handful of thyme, leaves only
1 tbsp fresh flat leaf (Italian) parsley, roughly chopped
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste

Method risotto:
1. In a saute pan over medium heat, bring the Earth Balance and olive oil up to temperature, add the garlic and saute until golden.
2. Add the shallots, leeks, scape and saute until leeks and shallots are soft and translucent. Should the edges begin to brown, turn down the temp, the heat is too high.
3. Add arborio and saute until rice becomes warm and glossy, about 3-4 minutes.
4. Add white wine and stir constantly until liquid is almost entirely absorbed and the rice mixture is nearly dry.
5. Once wine is absorbed, begin to add the mushroom/vegetable stock 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly until the liquid is absorbed and the mixture is nearly dry. Repeat, adding the stock in a 1/2 cup at a time, tasting as you go until rice is el dente.
6. Add mushrooms, thyme and lemon juice, stirring constantly until mushrooms loose their moisture and its absorbed. Tasting as you go, continue adding more stock if needed until the rice is firm but not mushy.
7. Add nutritional yeast, parsley, season with salt and pepper to taste and savour accordingly.