Chanterelle risotto is the perfect recipe for an autumn day. That is when chanterelle mushrooms are in season. Make a mushroom risotto using chanterelles, white wine and cream. The result is a delicate dish with a wonderful creamy texture and a balanced mushroom flavour. Chanterelles are sauteed in butter, and the risotto is thickened with cream. In this recipe I’m not adding any parmesan, to keep the flavours as simple as possible.

Who would have thought the autumn months would have flown by so quickly. It’s been two months from our Stockholm wedding now, yet it still feels like it was last week. Insane. In the meantime the nature has changed completely, leaving room for lots of pretty foliage, frosty mornings and chanterelles! So many of my friends are sharing pictures of their mushroom picking adventures and judging from the amounts I see on social media there must be a lot of chanterelles around.

I have no mushroom knowledge. I have been taught how to look for chanterelles on my first year in Sweden, but I’ve been warned there is a similar mushroom that should not be picked and that was enough to convince me I better not try. So I got some chanterelles from the supermarket. I figured that shopping was a safer way to satisfy my cravings after seeing loads of chanterelle photos all over my social media.

Got chanterelles? Try them with cheesy polenta concia!

I decided to use my chanterelles to make a nice mushroom risotto. As the northern Italian that I am, I consider risotto an exquisite expression of Italian cooking. It’s that perfect compromise between simplicity and great taste that always looks fancy enough while feeling like comfort food. One of my go-to meals to make for my dinner guests – unless they beg for home-made pasta. That’s kinda what they always expect.

How to make chanterelle risotto? First of all I took care of the mushrooms. I sautéed the chanterelles in butter, and seasoned them with a sprinkle of salt and some dried herbs. In this recipe I am recommending dried thyme, as it pairs very well with mushrooms and it is a fairly easy herb to find. My herb of choice would be dried winter savory. It’s a less common herb to find, so go ahead and use thyme if you can’t get this one. But if you happen to get your hands on some winter savory I’d strongly recommend that.

Then it’s all risotto basics. You set aside the cooked chanterelles and make the risotto in the same pan. You don’t want to discard that coating of mushroom flavoured butter that’s left behind, do you. You start with the onion and rice, then add the wine, and then gradually add the broth. I used chicken broth, if you want to make this dish vegetarian a veggie stock will also do. I personally prefer chicken stock in mushroom risotto, it’s a flavour preference. Since chanterelles are quite delicate, I also added some dried porcini to my chicken stock. Finally, you stir in some cream. I chose not to use any Parmigiano in this risotto as I didn’t want the cheese to overpower the delicate mushroom flavour.

Want to make this recipe vegan? Just swap the dairy butter and cream for a plant-based alternative (and use vegetable stock, of course). I am actually a big fan of oat cream and have used that, but of course any cream will do. This recipe is also gluten free. Chanterelle risotto adapts wonderfully to many dietary requirements.

Risotto is best served immediately, however this can be a make-ahead recipe. Just stir in some more cream as you warm it up, in order to achieve the original creamy texture. It can be stored in the freezer, but freezing totally kills its texture. So you can do it (I also happen to do it) but it’s not really recommended.

More risotto inspo: asparagus pistachio risotto.

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Chanterelle risotto

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Servings 3 people

Ingredients

• 300 g risotto rice
• 300 g chanterelle mushrooms
• 1 yellow onion (small)
• 50 g butter
• 200 ml dry white wine
• 1 L chicken broth
• 100 ml heavy cream
• 2 tsp dried mushrooms powder
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• salt to taste

Instructions

• Melt 30 g of butter in a skillet on medium heat. Wash the chanterelles and add them to the melted butter. Cover the pan and let cook for 5 minutes under the lid. After that, remove the lid, sprinkle some salt, add the dried thyme and keep cooking until most of the water that the mushrooms will have released has evaporated. Remove the mushrooms from the pan and set aside.
• In the same skillet, melt the remaining butter. In the meantime, mince the onion. Add the onion and the rice to the melted butter and sauté on medium heat for 2-3 minutes. The onion should start to soften and the rice should turn transparent.
• At this point, turn the heat up and pour the white wine into the rice mix in one go. Sitr well and let the wine evaporate.
• In the meantime, add the dried mushroom powder to the chicken stock and have it ready to use.
• After the wine has evaporated, add some broth to the rice using a ladle. I generally like to add just enough broth to cover the rice. Let simmer, uncovered, on medium heat, stirring occasionally. When the broth has been absorbed, repeat the same procedure. Continue until you have added all the broth to the rice.
• Lastly, pour the cream into the risotto and stir to combine. Remove from the heat and serve.