River Cottage risoniotto and a few words on mushrooms

 

    I hadn't come across risoni or orzo - a tiny rice-shaped pasta - until I saw it specified in Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's recipe for mushroom risoniotto in his new book River Cottage Veg Every Day, and being someone who finds mushrooms irresistible (e.g. Monty's mushroom savoury) here was a recipe I couldn't pass by and an ingredient I wanted to try.

    Quicker than a risotto and without the need for constant stirring, this dish is as simple as it is satisfying, the little 'grains' of pasta providing the comfort factor and the mushrooms (cooked with garlic, thyme, balsamic vinegar, white wine and cream) that wonderful earthy flavour.

 

    A few words on mushrooms from Niki Segnit's informative and entertaining The Flavour Thesaurus:

"Morel caps look like homemade beanies, knitted with big needles after one too many parsnip wines."

"Mushroom and onion: warm, soft and as inviting as a pair of sheepskin slippers."

"Mushroom and walnut: both ligneous. Mushrooms tend to the sort of heavy, damp woodiness you greedily inhale on a forest walk in autumn; walnuts to the warmly sweet, dry fragrance of timber in a DIY store."

"Mushroom and butternut squash: toadstools and pumpkins. A fairytale combination."

    Hungry?

Comments

[B R Wombat]

Yes! As an old hippy, I'm very pleased that Hugh F-W seems to be espousing a bit of veggiedom and hope that many of his fans will follow suit.

[B R Wombat]

PS I couldn't think of where I'd heard of orzo recently until I picked up The Secret History and there it was! On the page I fell asleep reading last night - orzo salad at the funeral. Synchronicity, I suppose.

[oxslip]

Yum, I love orzo - had it first in NZ for some reason where food is better even if it's supposedly 'European'. This looks great, am going to give it a try
Did you see pic of HFW linked to from yarnstorm the other day? Off the cover of OFM I think, slightly dubious way to present himself...

[Lyn]

This sounds wonderful, I love mushrooms & risotto so I'm keen to give this version a try. I have the book on order at the library so I can't wait to try a few recipes.

[Liz]

Waitrose has a very good recipe for Orzo and Squash. My teenage girls think it is one of the best meals they can have. I thoroughly recommend it. I don't know if I'm allowed to post the link

[Rebecca]

My family and I love orzo with onion, garlic, and spinach sauteed in olive oil, then layered into the bowl with the orzo and feta, olives, and parm. cheese, salt and pepper to taste. It's fast, quite healthy ( you can adjust the amounts of "healthy" and "not so" at will), good hot or cold, and open to many adaptations. Highly recommended!

[Cornflower]

That sounds delicious! Many thanks, Rebecca.

[Cornflower]

Is it this one, Liz? http://www.waitrose.com/content/waitrose/en/home/recipes/recipe_directory/o/orzo_pasta_with_squash.html If so, that does look good. Many thanks for letting me know.

[Cornflower]

Do try the bread recipe when you get the book, Lyn. I used it to make rolls today and they were very good.

[Cornflower]

Have just seen it!

[Cornflower]

Oh well, if there are no baked goods in the book for our 'cakes' post, at least I can make that salad!