Mushroom risotto with fresh black truffles

There are few things as indulgent and delicious as a bowl full of creamy, luscious mushroom risotto flavoured with fresh black truffles. This one is a showstopper of note.

We’re getting fancy today because you guys, we are in the presence of French black winter truffles and just in case you didn’t know, truffles are actually known as “The diamonds of the kitchen”. I have, up to this point, never cooked with fresh truffles, always relying on truffle oil to give me that pungent kick. But now that I have, I’ve been spoiled for life. These beautiful truffles were sent to me by The Truffle Kitchen. They import the best quality truffles from Italy, France, Spain and Australia and then distribute them to all the top restaurants in the country. I was the lucky recipient of two perfect black winter truffles and to be honest, at first I was terrified. I just kept staring at them wondering how I would do them justice. I called on social media to help me with ideas and the resounding call from far and wide was: “Keep it simple.” Pasta with a simple truffle cream sauce and mushroom risotto were the clear favourites.

I decided to make black truffle and mushroom risotto because a) it’s one of my top 5 ever meals and b) I couldn’t think of a better way to showcase the truffles. To start, I used a fine grater to grate some of the truffle into soft butter which I used to saute the onion, garlic and mushrooms (the remaining butter was rolled and is now happily frozen in my freezer, waiting for a big juicy steak to infuse with flavour) plus I shaved the rest of the truffle into the stock to infuse that as well. Finely, just before serving I used a few last shavings to top the mushroom risotto which added a bit drama and luxury. So pretty much every element of this dish has been truffled. And the end result was just luscious, and fragrant and delectable. The truffles infused the mushroom risotto with their earthy pungency and made the mushrooms taste even mushroomier (is that even a word?) It was one of those meals I savoured with every, single bite because let’s get real, this is not an every day occurence. In fact, you’re lucky if you ever get to cook with fresh black truffles so indeed, every bite was appreciated and enjoyed to the full. This is the kind of meal you make when you are trying to impress the pants off of someone (mother-in-laws come to mind) but it would be equally wonderful as a meal to celebrate an anniversary or birthday. Add a good bottle of wine and you have an instant celebration.

(I saw a variation of this photo on Pinterest and searched high and low for the original photographer but couldn’t find them. It was such a beautiful way to photograph fresh truffles, I simply had to give it my own spin.)

Disclaimer: This post was not sponsored, however I did receive the fresh black winter truffles from The Truffle Kitchen. 

Black truffle and mushroom risotto

There are few things as indulgent and delicious as a bowl full of creamy, luscious risotto flavoured with fresh black truffles and exotic mushrooms.

4.56 from 18 votes

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Course: Rice, Risotto, Vegetarian

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes minutes

Servings: 4

Author: Alida Ryder

Ingredients

• 50 g butter
• 2 teaspoons finely grated black truffle
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves thinly sliced
• 1 x 250g punnet mushrooms of your choice sliced
• 1 x 250g punnet exotic mushrooms
• 500 g Arborio rice
• 1 cup white wine
• 4 cups mushroom/vegetable stock
• 2 tablespoons black truffle shavings
• 1 tablespoon butter
• salt & pepper to taste
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• handful Parmesan grated
• fresh black truffle to garnish

Instructions

• To make the risotto, fry the onion in the truffle butter in a large frying pan.
• When the onion is soft, add the garlic and fry for another 20 seconds or so then add the mushrooms. Fry until the mushrooms are golden brown then add the rice.
• Stir to coat the rice in the butter and aromatics then add the wine. Allow the wine to reduce then stir in the stock, ladle by ladle. Allow the rice to absorb the stock before adding more and stir continuously. It is this continuous stirring that creates the creaminess risotto is known for.
• When the risotto has absorbed approximately half of the liquid, start tasting it regularly as a good risotto can quickly be ruined by over cooking. Your risotto might also not need all the stock or it might need more, it all depends on the rice's absorbency.
• When the risotto is cooked to your preference, stir in the butter and Parmesan and season to taste with lemon, salt and pepper.
• Top with the fresh black truffle and serve.

Notes

I am aware that not everyone has the luxury of cooking with fresh truffles. You can substitute all the truffles in this recipe with 1-2 teaspoons of black truffle oil. Buy your truffle oil from a reputable source as often the oil is simply infused with truffle essence and not real truffles.

More risotto recipes you will love:

Pumpkin risotto with haloumi pops and chili syrup 

Cauliflower risotto with truffle oil