Well tonight has certainly been a night of solitude. With one flatmate poorly, the other away and my boyfriend busy guesting on a radio show: a night on my own, listening to Laura Marling and cooking one of my favourite meals has actually been rather lovely. In my opinion, there is nothing more comforting than a creamy risotto: flavoured with earthy wild mushrooms, rich parmesan and served with a lightly poached, velvety egg on top. Who said students ate badly?
Ingredients (Serves 2 with a hearty appetite... or 3 normal people)
A good handful of dried porcini mushrooms
1 vegetable stock cube
A good glug of olive oil
1 finely chopped medium onion
Half a pack of chestnut mushrooms, washed and roughly chopped
200g of risotto rice
A generous grating of parmesan
1 free-range egg
1. Put the dried mushrooms in a bowl and cover with 1litre of boiling water. Soak for 20 minutes, or in my case, the length of an episode of 'Call the Midwife' (whoops). Drain, and crumble the stock cube into the mushroomy water. Squeeze the water out of the mushrooms and chop.
2. Heat the oil in a shallow saucepan and add the onions and fry until lightly golden. Add the mushrooms, both dried and fresh, and fry until softened. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Tip the rice into the pan, and jiggle it about a bit until each grain is coated in the mushroomy oil. Pour in a quarter of the stock and stir until the rice has absorbed it. Bring the risotto to a simmer, and keep adding the stock until the rice is plump and creamy. Keep stirring, or it will stick to the bottom of the pan and be a pain to wash up. By the final quarter of stock, the rice should be tender.
4. If the rice still isn't cooked, i.e a little crunchy or sticky in the middle, just add a few splashes of water and continue to stir.
5. Add a generous grating of parmesan and stir to combine.
6. In another pan, bring salted water to the boil, whisk to form a vortex, and crack an egg into the middle of the swirling water. Reduce the pan to a simmer, and after 3 minutes remove your perfectly poached egg (or in my case: a wishy-washy mass of gelatinous white) with a slotted spoon.
7. Dollop the risotto onto a place, and place the poached egg on top. Ideally serve with freshly ground black pepper and a generous handful of roughly chopped parsley... but I'm a student, so I don't have that kind of shit.
Ingredients (Serves 2 with a hearty appetite... or 3 normal people)
A good handful of dried porcini mushrooms
1 vegetable stock cube
A good glug of olive oil
1 finely chopped medium onion
Half a pack of chestnut mushrooms, washed and roughly chopped
200g of risotto rice
A generous grating of parmesan
1 free-range egg
1. Put the dried mushrooms in a bowl and cover with 1litre of boiling water. Soak for 20 minutes, or in my case, the length of an episode of 'Call the Midwife' (whoops). Drain, and crumble the stock cube into the mushroomy water. Squeeze the water out of the mushrooms and chop.
2. Heat the oil in a shallow saucepan and add the onions and fry until lightly golden. Add the mushrooms, both dried and fresh, and fry until softened. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Tip the rice into the pan, and jiggle it about a bit until each grain is coated in the mushroomy oil. Pour in a quarter of the stock and stir until the rice has absorbed it. Bring the risotto to a simmer, and keep adding the stock until the rice is plump and creamy. Keep stirring, or it will stick to the bottom of the pan and be a pain to wash up. By the final quarter of stock, the rice should be tender.
4. If the rice still isn't cooked, i.e a little crunchy or sticky in the middle, just add a few splashes of water and continue to stir.
5. Add a generous grating of parmesan and stir to combine.
6. In another pan, bring salted water to the boil, whisk to form a vortex, and crack an egg into the middle of the swirling water. Reduce the pan to a simmer, and after 3 minutes remove your perfectly poached egg (or in my case: a wishy-washy mass of gelatinous white) with a slotted spoon.
7. Dollop the risotto onto a place, and place the poached egg on top. Ideally serve with freshly ground black pepper and a generous handful of roughly chopped parsley... but I'm a student, so I don't have that kind of shit.
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