This recipe uses black Venus rice and truffle oil from Belazu who kindly sent me lots of ingredients to try. I hadn’t cooked black rice before and now I’m a total convert. It’s got a fantastic flavour and texture and looks amazing and combined with the truffle oil it’s a winning combo. You can add parmesan too if you want to. My recipe is Italian comfort food and perfect for dinner with a salad.

Recipe

Serves 4

Ingredients

320g Black Venere (Venus) rice from Belazu Online

200g of mushrooms sliced

2 garlic cloves minced

1 onion finely chopped

a sprig of parsley finely chopped

a sprig of basil (optional)

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 lemon zested and cut into wedges

1 1/2 litres of hot stock, I use a Knorr Stock Pots

2 tablespoons of butter, or replace with olive oil if you are dairy free

Truffle oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Parmesan (optional)

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How:

In a heavy pan over a medium heat, melt the butter or olive oil and add the onion and half of the garlic. Cook till the onions are soft, about five minutes. Then add half the chopped parsley and the rice and stir till the most of the liquid has evaporated. Start adding the stock, about half a cup at a time, stirring continually. This should take about 50 minutes but can take longer and the risotto should be creamy with a little sauce but not soupy and the rice should be tender, but with a bit of bite.Keep warm.

Heat the rest of the olive oil in a large frying pan and add the rest of the garlic. Fry the mushrooms for about ten minutes and browning and cooked through.

Serve the risotto on a big serving plate or plates with the mushrooms on top and sprinkle over the rest of the parsley, the lemon zest and the basil leaves and place the lemon wedges on the side. Sprinkle in truffle oil to taste. (I leave it on the table for people to help themselves).

I shop at:
Waitrose
Sainsbury’s
Tesco
Lidl