Amazing Autumn Recipe: Paul Heathcote’s Mushroom Risotto with Parmesan and Truffle Oil

Without ever having visited his restaurants or sampled any food actually prepared by him, I think I’ve started to become a serious fan of Paul Heathcote. Back when this year’s so called summer was in full swing, I followed his simple couscous recipe and loved the delicious outcome. Now that autumn’s rolled around, I’ve found an ideal recipe for this season by the same chef. After preparing two of his dishes for myself I’ve come to appreciate Paul’s down to earth style and confident sense of flavour.

Available from the Great British Chefs website, Paul Heathcote’s mushroom risotto with Parmesan and truffle oil is a comforting choice for an October eve. It’s super easy to make too. The only thing I added to the recipe – as a personal touch – was a pinch of nutmeg (this was Kemey’s idea during our dinner, and it was a tasty one).

I’ll admit to one blunder so that you won’t do the same: using shiitake mushrooms in this risotto was a mistake. I purchased a small punnett each of button, chestnut and shiitake mushrooms when I went shopping for ingredients. The button and chestnut mushrooms turned out to be perfect for the recipe. The shiitake not so much. They’re one of my favourite fungi but for this recipe came out kinda slimy. I should have known I was gambling with my shiitake choice though. The recipe clearly called for “a selection of wild mushrooms or button mushrooms.” My bad. Still the flavour of this wonderfully autumnal dish was awesome.

What I got right was making a good, savoury vegetable stock. One thing I liked about Heathcote’s risotto was that it had minimal ingredients. As one of only a few components, decent vegetable stock was key to adding depth to this dish. It also presented a great opportunity to clear out the fridge of wilted whatevers and to make use of the end bits and such of veggies that might otherwise get thrown away. I don’t really have any secret tips on making your own stock. One thing though, make sure you put in plenty of salt. Stock is pretty much a foolproof kind of thing: throw a bunch of stuff in a pot, boil for awhile, let sit, drain. If anybody has vegetable stock advice or wants to share some related links, by all means …

Wrapping up my review of this recipe, I’d just like to bring up two more points: Parmesan … and truffle oil. Ah. Yes, these gorgeous ingredients provided somed umami umpf to an already yummy risotto. I don’t think it would be too much of a problem if you were slightly heavy handed when stirring these in at the end. And my experience has been that it usually pays to go with the real deal Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

See more recipes by Paul Heathcote.