Mushroom & Pea Risotto

Ingredients

• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 150 g arborio rice
• 250 g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
• 100 g frozen peas
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 3 sprigs thyme, leaves picked
• 600 ml hot vegetable stock
• splash of white wine
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 20 g butter
• 30 g parmesan, grated
• Crusty ciabatta, to serve
• Mixed leaf salad, to serve
• Rocket salad dressed with lemon and olive oil, to serve

Method

1. Heat the olive oil and half the butter in a wide, heavy pan over medium heat. Fry the onion with a good pinch of salt for 3 minutes, until softened and translucent but not coloured — the salt now draws the moisture out and stops the onion catching.
2. Turn the heat up and add the sliced mushrooms in a single layer. Don't crowd the pan — if they're piled up they steam and go grey. Leave them undisturbed for 2 minutes to take colour, then stir and cook another 2–3 minutes until golden at the edges and any liquid has cooked away.
3. Stir in the garlic and thyme leaves and cook for just 30 seconds, until fragrant and pale gold. Watch it — burnt garlic turns the whole risotto bitter, and there's no rescuing it.
4. Tip in the arborio rice and toast for 1 minute, stirring so every grain is slicked in the buttery oil and the edges turn translucent. Pour in the splash of white wine and let it bubble hard until almost gone — you want the sharpness cooked out but the acid left behind.
5. Now the slow build: add the hot stock a ladleful at a time, stirring frequently and waiting until each addition is almost absorbed before the next. Keep going for 16–18 minutes, until the rice is creamy on the outside with a gentle bite at the core. Stir the frozen peas through for the final 2 minutes so they stay bright.
6. Pull the pan off the heat. Beat in the grated parmesan and the remaining cold butter — off the heat is the trick, it emulsifies into a glossy sauce instead of splitting. The risotto should ripple when you shake the pan; if it sits in a stiff mound, loosen it with a final splash of stock. Taste, season with salt and plenty of black pepper, then taste again — adjust now, not at the table.
7. Spoon into warm bowls. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, scatter with torn basil and a final shower of parmesan, and serve straight away with the rocket and mixed leaf salad alongside, dressed with lemon and olive oil.