This is the ultimate comfort food on a cold stormy night. A lot of people think risotto is hard to make but it is actually quite easy. The trick is to not rush it so make sure you have a bit of time.

Ingredients

• 50g butter
• 8 large portobello mushrooms, sliced
• 1 sprigs of fresh thyme or rosemary
• 25g butter
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely sliced OR 2 tsp crushed garlic
• 250g arborio rice
• 200mls white wine, I used a delicious Marlborough Sav
• 1 litre chicken stock – if you can make your own great otherwise any liquid chicken stock from the supermarket
• 1 cup of grated parmesan
• Extra chopped herbs to garnish i.e. parsley, chives, rosemary or thyme

Method

Melt butter in a large fry pan and add garlic,thyme and mushrooms. Fry on a medium heat until mushrooms are soft. Set aside.

Add the butter, onion and garlic to a large saucepan and saute for 5 minutes on a medium heat. Once the onions are translucent add the arborio rice and stir until lightly toasted. Make sure you continue to stir so that the rice doesn’t burn. Add the wine and stir until absorbed. Then begin adding the stock one cup at a time until each cup has absorbed. Be sure not to rush and continue to stir to prevent burning. Once the last cup of stock has fully absorbed add the mushrooms, parmesan and fresh herbs.

Serves 3-4