Mushroom Risotto: an in-depth guide

1. Ingredients

Pan-seared mushrooms (separate pan, in order of addition)

Risotto (saucepan, in order of addition)

Mantecatura (off the heat, in order of addition)

2. Step-by-step recipe

Preparation (before starting)

1. Rehydrate dried porcini (optional, if using dried porcini): cover with 200 ml of hot water (not boiling) and leave for 20–30 minutes. Lift gently, squeeze out excess water; filter the soaking liquid through a fine-mesh sieve (or kitchen paper) and add it to the stock.
2. Vegetable stock: bring to temperature and keep warm on low heat throughout cooking.



3. Fresh mushrooms: clean with a damp cloth, cut into thick slices (~5 mm). Do not wash under running water.



4. Shallot: mince finely.
5. Phase 1 — Cooking the mushrooms (separate pan)
6. Heat a wide pan over high heat with 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil (for 4 people; this is the mushroom-pan oil, separate from the rice oil).
7. Arrange the 300 g fresh mushrooms in a single layer (work in two batches if needed). Do not move them for 2–3 minutes until a golden crust forms.
8. Flip, cook another 2 minutes.
9. Add the 20 g rehydrated porcini, squeezed; cook 1 minute.
10. Lower the heat; add 2 cloves crushed garlic and 4 sprigs thyme. Cook 30 seconds.
11. Umami deglazing: deglaze with 8 ml soy sauce, stir for 15 seconds.
12. Turn off the heat; dissolve 10 g white miso (optional) in the pan juices, stirring (miso must not be cooked at high heat or it loses aroma). Adjust pepper.
13. Transfer mushrooms to a bowl and set aside. Reserve 2–3 tablespoons of pan juices.



14. Phase 2 — Cooking the rice (separate saucepan)
15. Heat 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil (for 4 people; this is the rice-saucepan oil) over medium heat.
16. Sauté the 2 shallots, minced for 2–3 minutes until translucent (do not brown).
17. Raise heat to medium-high. Pour the 320 g Carnaroli rice dry into the sautéed shallot.
18. Toast the rice, stirring constantly for 2–3 minutes: the grains should turn translucent at the edges, hot to the touch, with a slightly nutty aroma. They must not colour.
19. Deglaze with 120 ml dry white wine: pour in and stir until the alcohol evaporates completely (~1 minute; the hissing in the pan subsides).
20. Lower to medium heat. Add one ladle of hot stock at a time (1400 ml vegetable stock in total for 4 people).
21. Stir regularly (not obsessively; every 30–45 seconds is enough). Add the next ladle when the previous one is almost fully absorbed.
22. Continue for about 14–15 minutes.
23. When 3 minutes remain: fold in the sautéed mushrooms and their pan juices. Stir gently to incorporate without breaking them.
24. Taste the rice: it should be al dente, with a slightly firm core.
25. Phase 3 — Mantecatura
26. Remove the saucepan from the heat.
27. Immediately add 60 g cold butter, cubed, and 80 g grated Parmigiano.
28. Do not stir with a spoon: grip the handle of the saucepan and push it back and forth vigorously, making the rice fold onto itself in a wave for 40–60 seconds, until a glossy, uniform cream forms.
29. Cover with a lid and let rest 1–2 minutes.





30. Serve on a warm plate; the risotto should "flow" forming a wave (all'onda). If too thick, adjust with half a ladle of hot stock before plating.
31. Taste and adjust salt only if needed: the Parmigiano and soy sauce are already salty, so extra salt is often unnecessary.
32. Optional, to taste: finish with freshly chopped parsley, a drizzle of raw extra-virgin olive oil, and grated Parmigiano Reggiano.

3. Cooking mushrooms separately: umami and depth

Why cook them separately

Mushrooms contain ~90% water. Adding them raw to the risotto releases moisture into the rice uncontrollably, resulting in "boiled" mushrooms (grey, rubbery) and a watery risotto. Cooking them separately in a very hot pan enables the Maillard reaction: surface water evaporates, proteins and sugars caramelise creating the golden crust and intense flavour we seek.

Ingredients to boost umami and depth

Order of addition in the pan

1. Extra-virgin olive oil → smoking-hot pan
2. Fresh mushrooms → single layer, undisturbed 2–3 min per side
3. Rehydrated mushrooms → 1 minute (already soft)
4. Garlic + thyme → 30 seconds (heat lowered)
5. Soy sauce → deglazing 15 sec
6. Miso → off heat, dissolved in pan juices

4. Toasting the rice

What happens during toasting

Toasting is the step where rice grains, heated to 140–160 °C for 2–3 minutes, undergo a "sealing" of the outer starch layer. Surface amylopectin partially gelatinises, forming a barrier that: prevents grains from falling apart during cooking; enables gradual starch release into the stock (creaminess without stickiness); generates nutty aromatic compounds (mild Maillard on starch).

How long and with which ingredients

2–3 minutes over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Visual cue: grain edges turn from opaque to translucent/glassy; the centre remains white. If grains start to colour, the heat was too high. Use extra-virgin olive oil for toasting (the dominant flavour should be the mushroom, not butter; save butter for mantecatura). The shallot should be sautéed before adding the rice.

Deglazing with wine

Immediately after toasting: white wine lowers the grain temperature, "locks in" the toasting and adds acidity that balances the mushroom umami. It must evaporate completely before adding stock; residual alcohol would make the dish bitter.

White wine substitutes

If wine is unavailable (or by choice), deglazing serves two functions: rapidly lowering the temperature of the toasted rice and providing acidity. Any substitute must replicate both effects.

5. Adding stock and mushrooms

The stock must be hot (nearly simmering): adding cold liquid interrupts cooking and produces a hard-core/soft-outside grain. One ladle at a time: the rice must cook gradually in the liquid, not boil submerged. Stir every 30–45 seconds. Total time from first ladle: 16–18 minutes for Carnaroli, 14–16 for Arborio.

When to add the mushrooms

3 minutes before the rice finishes cooking. The mushrooms are already cooked and only need to warm up and release their aromas into the risotto without losing texture. Adding them too early makes them mushy; too late and they don't release flavour. Also add the pan juices from the mushroom pan.

6. Mantecatura: butter, oil, Parmigiano

What is mantecatura

It is the final emulsion of cold fat + cheese into the hot, starchy rice mass. The starch released during cooking acts as a natural emulsifier, binding fat into micro-droplets and creating a glossy, velvety, stable cream.

The movement technique

1. Pan off the heat.
2. Cold butter, cubed + fine Parmigiano on top of rice.
3. Grip the saucepan handle firmly.
4. Push back and forth vigorously, making the rice fold onto itself in a wave.
5. Continue for 40–60 seconds until the surface is glossy and uniform.
6. Rest 1–2 minutes covered before plating.

Consistency at mantecatura time

Remove the rice from heat when it is slightly more liquid than you want on the plate. Mantecatura and resting will thicken it. The risotto on the plate should "flow" when you tilt it: this is the famous all'onda.

7. Plant-based mantecatura: alternatives to butter

For those avoiding dairy or seeking a different lipid profile, mantecatura can be done with plant-based fats. The physical principle remains identical: a cold (or room-temperature) fat emulsified into the hot rice starch.

EVO oil: room temperature or frozen?

The physics of mantecatura require thermal shock: cold fat meeting hot starch; the starch wraps fat micro-droplets forming a stable, creamy emulsion. With butter this happens naturally (it's solid at 4 °C). With EVO oil, which is liquid at room temperature, you can replicate the same effect by freezing the oil into cubes (pour it into an ice-cube tray a few hours ahead). The cube melts gradually in the hot rice and the starch captures it progressively, producing a result closer to classic mantecatura.

Nutritional comparison: butter vs EVO oil

8. A note on mushrooms: alternatives to porcini

Fresh porcini are seasonal (late summer–autumn) and expensive. When unavailable, the best combination is fresh champignon mushrooms + a small bag of dried porcini. Champignons provide mass and meaty texture; dried porcini (rehydrated 20 min in hot, not boiling, water) provide the intense earthy aroma. The soaking water, filtered through a fine-mesh strainer, becomes part of the cooking stock.

Mushroom mixes: how to combine them

Mixes are possible and often advisable, but you must consider each mushroom's contribution. Free glutamate (responsible for umami) varies enormously between species: fresh champignons contain only 40–110 mg/100g (Umami Information Center), while dried shiitake reach 1060 mg/100g glutamate and 150 mg/100g guanylate (a nucleotide that amplifies glutamate's umami up to 8-fold); dried porcini are also rich in it, though published data are less well-established than for shiitake. Champignons alone produce a flat, bland risotto; they should always be combined with high-umami mushrooms. Effective combinations:

9. A note on shallots: alternatives

Shallot is the classic base for mushroom risotto: sweet, delicate, unobtrusive flavour. But it's not always available or the flavour might not be preferred. Here are the alternatives.

10. A note on miso and soy sauce

Tradition and context

Neither miso nor soy sauce belong to Italian or European culinary tradition. Miso is a Japanese fermented seasoning (of Chinese origin, later attested in Japan); soy sauce reached Europe in the 16th–17th century via Portuguese and Dutch trade routes, without ever integrating into traditional European cooking. Soy sauce and miso are not used in a classic mushroom risotto. They are mentioned in this recipe to give an extra boost of savouriness, especially if using "weaker" mushrooms, but both are entirely optional.

Soy sauce: what it does

Soy sauce is a concentrated solution of free glutamate. Added during mushroom deglazing, it amplifies the umami already present: the effect is not merely additive, soy glutamate acts synergistically with the mushrooms, multiplying the perception of savouriness. The result is a more intense, "deeper" mushroom fond, without adding any recognisable soy flavour. The flavour-to-quantity ratio is excellent: a few drops produce a significant effect. It can be omitted entirely if using mushrooms with an already high umami profile (porcini, shiitake, portobello); Parmigiano in the mantecatura partially compensates, being naturally rich in glutamate from ageing.

Miso: what it does

Miso adds a second layer of umami, qualitatively different from soy sauce: rounder, with fermented complexity (nutty, earthy notes in shiro miso). Fermentation breaks down about 30% of soy proteins into free amino acids, with glutamate as the dominant component. In practice, the finished dish gains a more enveloping "fullness" of flavour; the risotto feels richer and more complex without any specific ingredient being identifiable. This is the more optional step of the two: soy sauce alone works perfectly; without miso, simply increase the soy dose by 50% (from a few drops to half a teaspoon for 2 people).

Which miso to use

For this risotto use shiro miso (white/yellow miso): short fermentation, sweet-delicate flavour that doesn't overpower the mushrooms. Avoid red miso (aka miso) or barley miso (mugi miso): too intense and dark, they would compete with porcini.

11. Storage

Let the risotto cool to room temperature for no more than 30-40 minutes before refrigerating: sealing it airtight while still warm traps steam and creates a humid environment favourable to bacteria.

• Room temperature: maximum 2 hours after cooking is complete. Cooked rice is an ideal medium for Bacillus cereus proliferation (a bacterium that produces heat-stable toxins); beyond 2 hours at room temperature the risk becomes significant.
• Refrigerator: 2–3 days in an airtight container. To reheat: add 2–3 tablespoons of hot stock per portion and warm over medium heat while stirring; the texture will be slightly firmer than the original but still good.
• Freezer: up to 1 month, portioned into airtight containers. Thawing and reheating make the grains softer and less "al dente"; the risotto loses its all'onda consistency. Acceptable for convenience, but the result is inferior to fresh.

12. Scientific evidence

1. Guasch-Ferré M. et al. (2014). "Olive oil intake and risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality in the PREDIMED Study." BMC Medicine, 12:78. — Inverse association between EVO oil consumption and cardiovascular mortality.
2. Schwingshackl L. & Hoffmann G. (2014). "Monounsaturated fatty acids, olive oil and health status." Current Pharmaceutical Design, 20(5):843–849. — Review of anti-inflammatory mechanisms of oleic acid.
3. Beauchamp G.K. et al. (2005). "Phytochemistry: Ibuprofen-like activity in extra-virgin olive oil." Nature, 437:45–46. — Discovery of oleocanthal as anti-inflammatory.
4. De Souza R.J. et al. (2015). "Intake of saturated and trans unsaturated fatty acids and risk of all cause mortality." BMJ, 351:h3978. — Meta-analysis: replacing saturated fats with monounsaturated reduces risk.
5. Fernández del Río L. et al. (2016). "Olive oil polyphenols and cardiovascular diseases." Frontiers in Nutrition, 3:29. — Cardioprotective mechanisms of oil polyphenols.
6. Nocella C. et al. (2018). "Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Cardiovascular Diseases: Benefits for Human Health." Endocrine, Metabolic & Immune Disorders Drug Targets, 18(1):4–13. — Effects on oxidative stress and endothelial function.