Mushroom and Spinach Risotto

Mushroom and Spinach Risotto is hearty, cold weather comfort food at its best. Creamy risotto rice, mixed with convenient and flavour packed dried mushrooms, iron rich spinach and topped with some Parmesan and parsley. An easy one pot weeknight meal, but special enough for date night too.

When it comes to risotto, you can't go wrong with mushroom - it's a classic. Mushrooms have a really meaty texture whilst still keeping this risotto vegetarian and the option to be vegan. We have given a mushroom risotto a vitamin boost by adding iron rich spinach.

Jump to:

• Why should you try it?
• What you will need
• Step by step
• What rice to use
• What vegetables can you add?
• What mushrooms to use
• Is mushroom risotto healthy?
• What to serve it with
• FAQs
• Extra tips
• More risotto recipes
• Recipe

Why should you try it?

What you will need

Step by step

One: Add the olive oil to a large pan and then add the shallots, celery and garlic and gently cook for 3 minutes.

Two: Add the rice, salt and pepper, stir and cook for 1 minute.

Three: Drain the mushrooms and add to the pan with a ladle of the stock. Keep adding a ladle of stock at a time and waiting until the rice has absorbed the stock before adding another until you have used all the stock. This should take around 20-25 minutes.

Four: Add the spinach.

Five: Stir the spinach and lemon juice in and serve with fresh parsley and Parmesan on top.

What rice to use

When it comes to risotto, arborio rice is the best to use because it is high enough in amylose to maintain an al dente texture, even after cooking it for a long time. However, if you want to use any alternative like basmati or sushi rice, then you will need to add some cream or cornstarch to the dish, as they are less starchy and therefore you don't get as creamy a result.

Never rinse risotto rice before cooking it, as it strips the starch from it which means you won't get a really creamy risotto.

You can also swap rice for bulgur wheat or pearl barley for something a little different.

What vegetables can you add?

We added spinach, as it's really simple to throw in. Not only does adding spinach give it an iron boost, but it adds lots of colour to a fairly bland looking dish. But don't worry, this dish tastes far from bland!

You could swap the spinach for other greens like kale, chard, cabbage or pak choi. A good opportunity to use up some leftover greens.

You could also fry up some courgette, aubergine and chopped bell peppers at the same time as the shallots, to pack it out with some more vegetables.

What mushrooms to use

As the mushrooms are the star of this mushroom and spinach risotto, we wanted to use a a selection of different mushrooms as they all have such a unique taste and texture. You could just use standard white mushrooms, but why would you when there is such an amazing selection of mushrooms out there?

We went with Shiitake, Forest mushrooms and Porccini (sometimes called Penny Bun mushrooms) and used dried mushrooms because they are so handy to keep in the cupboard and just need to be re-hydrated.

It saves us having to worry about having fresh mushrooms that might have gone past their best, and speciality mushrooms can be hard to find sometimes. But, you can substitute dried mushrooms for fresh ones if you prefer.

Is mushroom risotto healthy?

Risotto is a really hearty, heavy and comforting dish but that doesn't mean it has to be unhealthy. We have added plenty of vegetables to this mushroom and spinach risotto and left out the cream and just used a little cheese - but you could leave that out.

You could swap the risotto rice for brown rice or even quinoa but the cook time and texture would of course be different. Add plenty of spinach and/or kale towards the end for a vitamin boost.

What to serve it with

This mushroom and spinach risotto is pretty much a full meal already, however we are always a fan of serving extra vegetables on the side where we can. Looking for some side dishes to go with this mushroom risotto? Why not try these:

• Roasted Lemon Asparagus
• Baked Carrot Fries
• Beetroot and Goats Cheese Salad
• Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
• Garlic and Parsley Roasted Carrots

FAQs

Extra tips

• Keep this mushroom and spinach risotto vegan by skipping the Parmesan or using a vegetarian alternative. You could also stir through some oat creme fraiche to add a bit of creaminess.
• This is a good way to use up leftover cheese and herbs, so feel free to mix them up. Goats cheese and chives also goes well in this recipe. Stilton also goes really well in a mushroom risotto.
• Add a sprinkling of pine nuts before serving for some extra texture.
• Swap the risotto rice for brown rice or quinoa, but be mindful that the cooking times would vary.
• Add some extra flavour by stirring in some chopped sun dried tomatoes before serving.
• You can add some white wine to this dish to give it some more flavour. Simply swap 100ml of the stock for a good quality white wine.

More risotto recipes

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Recipe