For me, a perfect winter recipe is one that is rich and warms your bones, but doesn’t make you feel heavy and sluggish. This risotto is it. The combination of a cheesy risotto base topped with pan-seared portobello and chanterelle mushrooms, flat-leaf Italian parsley, and baked hazelnuts is as fresh as it is filling (very).
Mushroom, Hazelnuts, and Fresh Parsley Risotto // serves 4-6
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 1 cup arborio rice
- 1/3 cup white wine
- 3 and 1/2 cups vegetable broth
- 2 portobello mushrooms, sliced
- 1/3 cup hazelnuts, halved
- 1 cup chanterelle mushrooms, chopped
- 1 cup parmesan cheese, grated
- 1 cup fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley, chopped
First up, you ‘gotta wash and prep your ingredients. As soon as everything is chopped and ready, the rest is as simple as stirring.
You warm the olive oil on medium heat, then add the onion and stir until they’re translucent, 5-10 minutes. Add the rice and stir for another minute. Then, add the wine! As soon as the wine cooks into the rice, add a half a cup of vegetable broth and keep stirring the pot until the liquid is nearly absorbed, then keep doing that half cup of vegetable broth at a time until it’s all absorbed. In total, it takes about 20 minutes (giving you a good risotto base and strong arms)!
Meanwhile, do these two things: On top of your oven, heat a drop of olive oil in a skillet then sauté your mushrooms for 10 minutes, stirring as needed so that none burn. Inside of your oven, preheat it to 350F, then, on a baking sheet, bake the halved hazelnuts for 10 minutes.
The last part is combining it all—the risotto, mushrooms, hazelnuts, and parmesan cheese—stirring it until it’s even, then topping it with a generous splash of fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley. The best part of the recipe is the unexpected crunch and flavor from the nuts – it’s such a nice contrast to the rest of the texture!
Risotto is my favorite go-to recipe, can be dressed with infinite combinations, and is pretty much the only thing that I want to eat until the sun comes back.
