Mushroom Risotto with Parsley and Lemon

I've got a friend who's an excellent cook, but he confessed he never makes risotto because it's so difficult to make it perfect. It's either under- or overcooked, too dry, too wet - or, worst of all, tasteless! But that's not the case with this garlicky mushroom risotto with lemon-parsley sauce: it's an explosion of tastes.

And it's 100% vegan as well.

Serve this risotto on pretty plates, pour some of your favourite Chianti in your glass, put some Irene Grandi music on - and you couldn't have it better off in any Italian restaurant :)

For 3 people you need:

• 1 medium-sized onion


• 4 Tbsp olive oil (divided)


• 250ml risotto rice


• 600ml vegetable broth


• 350g fresh mushrooms


• 2-3 garlic cloves


• salt and pepper to taste

For the parsley dressing:

• 1 tsp grated lemon zest


• 1 Tbsp lemon juice


• 5 Tbsp olive oil


• a generous handful of fresh parsley

 

Heat 3 Tbsp olive oil in a large saucepan. Chop the onion and sauté over a medium heat for about 3-4 minutes. Add the rice and stir another 1-2 minutes. Gradually add the broth (previously heated, preferably) and let simmer over a low heat, partially covered. Let cook until the rice is al dente, or about 18 minutes. Once in a while, check that there's enough liquid - if not, add more!

While the rice is cooking, it's time to prepare the mushrooms and the lemon-parsley sauce.

Chop the mushrooms and sauté them in a large (iron) pan with no oil on it, stirring constantly, until the mushrooms have lost most of their liquid. Then add 1-2 Tbsp olive oil and the crushed garlic cloves and stir and fry 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and sprinkle with some salt and pepper.

For the sauce, just combine all ingredients in a jar and mix with a hand mixer until smooth. If you don't have one, chop the parsley with a pair of scissors as fine as you can, the add the rest and stir.

Now you should have all the three elements ready. Check once more that the rice is not too dry - if it is, you can still add more hot broth or water! Divide the rice on three plates, then sprinkle with those garlicky mushrooms and drizzle 1-2 tsp of the sauce on top. Serve immediately! And wipe any rests with a piece of baguette ;)

 

 

 

 

 

Risotto Milanese with Grilled Fennel and Herbs

My great-grandmother Olga was notorious for her elephant's memory: she would never forget, especially when she got bad service in a shop. If that happened, she would make a dramatic exit, declaring in her broad Karelian dialect: "I will never come to this place again." And she would indeed keep her word.

So do I.

This risotto recipe is dedicated to Coma, an Italian restaurant in Helsinki that boasts simple Italian dishes, made from scratch in their open kitchen. Me and my cousin had dinner there on Tuesday and were very disappointed with the risotto we both had as main dish. The only thing the waiter could answer to our very polite criticism was: "But this is the best risotto in Helsinki!" It turned out it had indeed been nominated as the best risotto in town - back in 2007. Anyway, de gustibus non est disputandum - but it's not acceptable not to take polite remarks seriously (or at least to fake to do so). And the dish was horribly expensive, too; 18 euros for a small plate.

So, I will never go to Coma again.

To recover from that awful risotto experience, I tried out a new risotto idea today, featuring saffron, garlic, grilled fennel, and herbs. For this big portion enough for 5 eaters I paid about 12 euros... and I happen to live in one of the most expensive places in the world - so the chances are, you'll pay even less :)

Here's what you need:

• 1 large onion, finely chopped


• 2 garlic cloves, crushed


• 5 Tbsp olive oil, divided


• 0,5g saffron


• salt and pepper to taste


• 150ml dry white wine


• about 1 liter hot vegetable stock


• 2 large fennel bulbs, sliced finely


• a handful of fresh basil and parsley leaves


• a handful of toasted pine nuts


• (and some grated Parmesan to serve, if you want)

First, set your oven to 250C. Place the fennel slices on a baking tray and sprinkle them generously with olive oil and salt. Once the oven is hot, grill the fennel slices until they start to get some colour, or about 15 minutes.

In the meantime, cook the risotto: Heat 3 Tbsp olive oil in a large pan. Sauté the onions over a medium heat until they are translucent. Add the garlic and stir, then add the rice and fry 1-2 minutes more. Now, add the white wine, saffron, salt, and pepper, and about 1/3 of the vegetable stock. Let simmer over a medium heat. Add gradually the rest of the vegetable stock until the rice has cooked al dente. Your risotto should be rather liquid at this point, because it dries a lot before you get to serve it - even if you're very fast :)

Now, arrange the grilled fennel slices on top of the risotto. Sprinkle generously with basil, parsley, pine nuts ans some more pepper and salt if needed. Serve immediately with a glass of your favorite red wine!

Maki rolls

“I’ve never seen kids eat this much sushi!”, proclaimed a waitress once in a sushi restaurant. Indeed, my two little angels had eaten a total of 38 pieces, which is more than many adults manage. When heading out, they were still complaining that they’d wanted more - and I had a sudden flashback of the Simpsons episode where Homer goes to all-you-can-eat seafood restaurant..!

So you might understand the need for making sushi at home. I used to buy fresh salmon and tuna, but nowadays I make mostly vegetarian sushi. (Today I used a bit of canned Follow Fish tuna.) Their clear advantage over non-vegetarian ones is that you don’t have to worry about whether the fish is fresh enough to be eaten uncooked. I mainly make maki rolls, although I’ve tried avocado and omelet covered nigiris as well. Once you get the hang of it, it’s actually quite easy and fun! But still time-consuming…

First, you need to cook sushi rice. My normal portion is 500g uncooked rice. It makes sense to follow the recipe of the package you’re using, because the amount of water may vary from one brand to another. For the rice I normally use, 650ml water is perfect (for that half a kilo of rice). Wash the rice thoroughly until washing water comes out clear. Then drain the rice, place in a pan and cover with the required amount of water. Bring to a boil, let boil over a low heat for some 10 minutes or until water is absorbed. You don’t need to stir the rice at all. Then set aside and let rest for another 10 minutes or so before transferring onto a deep big plate to be seasoned.

For the seasoning, I use 50ml rice vinegar, 1 tsp sea salt, and 2 Tbsp sugar. Many recipes suggest more salt, but since soy sauce has quite a lot of salt already, for me that’s just enough. I mix the ingredients well, sprinkle over the rice, and stir with two wooden spoons or spatulas. Then the rice still has to cool before you can actually start making the sushi.

For a regular maki roll, take a nori sheet cut in half and place it on the sushi mat. Then wet your hands well and cover the nori sheet with a thin layer of rice, leaving about 1cm on the top end free (see the picture to get the idea). In the middle of the rice, use your finger to “draw” a fine horizontal line with wasabi (don’t exaggerate, it’s hoooot!) and on top of the wasabi, place any filling you’d like: cucumber, cut into thin, long sticks; carrots, cut into even thinner sticks; avocado, cut into thin sticks as well. You have to find the right balance between too little and too much filling; in both cases, it’s hard to roll it properly. Wet the not covered part of nori with water, using your fingers again. Then place your thumbs under the bamboo mat, hold the filling with the rest of your fingers, and slowly start rolling the mat towards the other end, then move your right hand on top of the mat to help in the rolling. Once you’ve reach the other end, roll the maki inside the mat under the palm of your hands a couple of times forth and back - be careful not to crush it! - and then open. If all went well, you should now have a beautiful roll waiting to be cut - if not, don’t worry - it took me quite a long time before I started mastering the right technique. And as you can witness, not all come out perfect even now.. There are great tutorials on youtube - or even better, maybe you know someone who could show you? That’s how I learned it.. (Thanks, Salla!)

Now you just need to cut the roll into 6 pieces. Choose a really sharp knife - it’s best to have several so you can try just which of them works the best. It's essential to wet the knife! First cut the roll in two pieces, and then each half still into 3 small ones. Voilà!

For inside-out rolls, you need to cover your bamboo mat with some plastic wrap. Place the nori sheet on a plate and cover it with rice, using wet hands. (You don’t need to leave that 1cm uncovered.) Then turn the nori sheet around and set it, rice side down, on the plastic-wrap covered bamboo mat. Place filling in the middle and roll as described with regular maki rolls. Inside-out makis are somewhat easier to roll, but they are very sticky, so be careful when cutting them! Before cutting, you can sprinkle some black and/or white sesame seeds on top.

Serve your makis with wasabi, soy sauce, and pickled ginger.

So today when the kids asked: “What?! Did you make so little sushi?” I could answer: "Obviously there’s more waiting in the kitchen!" I’ve finally learned my lesson.