Butternut and Mushroom Risotto

For some reason, the popular consensus about rice is that it is a gluten grain. Rice is NOT a gluten grain, it contains starch yes, but is in fact 100% gluten free and easily digested by the body, without fermentation, which makes it one of the best food stuffs to eat if you are intolerant to gluten.

I love risotto, but the laborious task of whisking and stirring and waiting for the stock to absorb, and waiting and waiting and waiting some more, is a bit of a turn off - therefore when Neill Anthony, personal chef, mentioned that he had a short cut for risotto, the same method used in Gordon Ramsay's kitchen, where he trained, I was most intrigued.

The secret is to boil the rice for 7 minutes and then not to rinse the starch off before using it. This little tip takes the mission out of making risotto and provides the same results - how cool is that huh?? :)

With the rice sorted, let's move on to the second most important ingredient in a risotto - the stock.

Have I mentioned to you yet, the reason why I love NoMU fonds? No? Ok - well here are the many reasons: Firstly, a fond is described as concentrated stock. Not only are NoMU fonds free of artificial flavourings, colourants and preservatives, but they are gluten free too. This is such a relief to me - because yes, it is possible to make your own stock, which is what I have done in the past as most stock cubes and powders contain gluten - but NoMU fonds taste so great, that it is no longer necessary to do.

YAY for NoMU and their delightful fonds, which come in a variety of flavours; vegetable, chicken, beef and lamb.

Now that we have two brilliant time savers - let's make this speedy risotto - chop, chop!

Taken from website

Butternut and Mushroom Risotto:

(Serves 2 - 4)

Ingredients:

250g Arborio Rice

500g Roughly Diced Butternut

20ml NoMU Fond (I used Beef)

250g Sliced Brown Mushrooms

20g Dried Exotic Mushrooms (I used Chanterelle), Rehydrated with Liquor Reserved

1 Diced Onion

4 Tbsp White Wine

2 - 4 Tbsp Grated Hard Cheese, such as Parmesan

2 - 3 Tbsp Butter

Olive Oil for Frying

 Method:

• Rehydrate dried mushrooms and reserve the mushroom liquor - should take about 30 minutes
• Boil butternut in enough water to just cover the cubes until broken down and puree-like
• Add the NoMU Fond and the mushroom liquor to the butternut - make sure that you have about 600mls of liquid here as this is going to be your stock
• Boil the rice for 7 minutes, drain but don't remove the starch
• Fry onion in olive oil, until translucent
• Add half the sliced mushrooms and the exotic mushrooms and continue frying
• Add the rice and cook for about 2 minutes
• Add the wine and cook until it has evaporated
• Add the stock a ladleful at a time, it should absorb quickly - the rice should take about 10 minutes to cook
• Fry the remaining mushrooms in butter, salt, pepper and garlic (if desired)
• Add to the risotto with the cheese and butter
• You may also like to add some chopped flat leaf parsley
• Serve immediately with a final grating of cheese