Risotto with Portobello mushrooms

As you perhaps already know, I am BIG fan of risotto, so therefore I am sharing yet another risotto with you, which I have cooked using a recipe found in the weekly newsletter from Årstiderne, issue 42/2013.

In hindsight this risotto recipe would do perfect with using some white wine and butter as well to bring both freshness and creaminess to the final risotto.

Risotto with Portobello mushrooms: - 2-3 servings

• 2 onions - chopped
• 200 g risotto rice
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 l water - warm/boiling
• 1 star anise
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 lime leaves
• 1 barley leave
• 5 white pepper corns
• 1 tray of Portobello mushrooms - chopped into squares
• 5-6 spring onions - finely chopped
• 100 g Parmesan cheese - grated
• parsley - chopped
• salt and pepper for seasoning

1. Chopped all the vegetable in the desired size.
2. Heat up the olive oil in a bigger cooking pot. Add in the chopped onions and fry them until they are clear in appearance.
3. Add the risotto rice into the cooking pot and fry them for 1-2 minutes and stir them around for 1 minute to absorb the oil.
4. Add in the various spices together with some part of the water.
5. Continue to add in the warm water little by little, let the rice absorb most of the liquid, before adding more water. This part of the cooking process takes approx. 20 minutes. Keep stirring regular.
6. Season with salt and pepper.
7. While the cooking process fry the Portobello mushrooms on a pan together with the spring onions.
8. Mix the risotto together with the fried Portobello mushrooms and spring onions. Also stir in the majority of the grated Parmesan cheese.
9. Serve the risotto with grated Parmesan and chopped parsley on the serving plates/bowls. 
10. Enjoy together with a chilled glass of white wine.