As the days grow colder, there’s nothing more comforting than a bowl of creamy risotto infused with earthy, golden winter chanterelles. These elusive mushrooms bring a wonderfully complex depth that transforms a humble dish into something truly special. Whether you’ve foraged them yourself or picked up a handful of wild mushrooms at your local market, this risotto is the perfect way to warm up on a chilly autumn day.
Winter chanterelles are a choice mushroom for foragers during the colder months. Their excellent flavour carries a delicate hint of apricot, adding depth to any mushroom-focused dish!
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Why You’ll Love This Risotto
Ingredients & Info
Here’s a list of the ingredients used along with my top-tips! ✨
The Base
- 1 white onion – finely diced
- 1 stick celery – finely sliced
- 4 cloves garlic – finely diced or minced
- 200g winter chanterelles – larger mushrooms chopped into bitesize pieces
- 300g risotto rice (arborio)
- 1 cup frozen peas – or fresh
- 1 tbsp butter – we use Naturli
- 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil – or any neutral-flavoured oil
The Flavour Bombs
- 1 tbsp dried mushroom powder – you can make mushroom powder yourself – just blend dried gourmet mushrooms such as porcinis or shitakes in a high-speed blender (I used shitake.) Alternatively, you can buy some here
- 175ml white wine – this adds some complex flavours
- 1 tbsp fresh tarragon – minced, if you don’t have fresh you can substitute with 1 tsp of dried
- 1 tsp fresh thyme – stems removed, or substitute with 1/3 tsp dried
- 1.1 litres mushroom stock – we use Kallo but you can also use chicken or vegetable stock
How to Make This Risotto
Please see the recipe card at the bottom of this post for the full recipe details.
- Sauté the aromatics.
Add the olive oil to a wok then sauté the onion and celery over a medium high heat, season well with salt and pepper. Cook until they start turning golden in colour, around 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic, fresh herbs and continue cooking for another minute. - Reduce the wine.
Turn the heat up high, pour in the wine and allow it to reduce until there’s almost no liquid left, you’ll want to keep an eye on the wok and stir every so often. Lower the heat and stir in the mushrooms, continue cooking them until all their juices have been released and reduced down. - Toast the rice.
Turn down the heat to medium low then stir in the mushroom powder and risotto rice. Keep stirring the rice to coat it with the flavours from the pan, then allow the rice to toast in the pan for a minute or two. - Add stock gradually.
Pour in enough stock to just cover the rice, stir well. From now on you will need to let the rice gently simmer, stirring every 30 seconds or so, but not constantly. Keep repeating this process, adding more stock to just cover, until the rice is al dente – soft with a slight bite. This should take around 15-20 minutes, and we want all the remaining liquid in the wok to be absorbed before moving the the next step. If you need to add more or use less stock that is fine. - Add the remaining ingredients.
When the rice has finished cooking, stir in the peas and a tbsp of butter. Turn off the heat and leave it to sit for 5 minutes, the heat of the risotto with be enough to cook the peas and keep them firm. Taste and add more seasoning as desired. Serve with grated cheese and an optional sprinkle of fresh tarragon.
Recipe FAQs
Winter Chanterelle Risotto
Whether you’ve foraged them yourself or picked up a handful of wild mushrooms at your local market, this risotto is the perfect way to warm up on a chilly autumn day.
Ingredients
- 1 white onion finely diced
- 1 stalk celery finely sliced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 200 g winter chanterelles
- 1 tsp fresh thyme
- 1 tbsp fresh tarragon minced
- 1 tbsp dried mushroom powder see notes
- 300 g risotto rice (arborio)
- 1.1 litres mushroom stock see notes
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 tbsp butter we use Naturli
- 175 ml white wine
- ½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Sauté the onion and celery in the oil over a medium high heat, season well, cook until turning golden in colour. Stir in the garlic and continue cooking for another minute.
- Turn the heat up high, pour in the wine and allow it to reduce until there's almost no liquid left. Stir in the mushrooms and cook until all the juices have been released and reduced down.
- Turn down the heat to medium low then stir in the mushroom powder and risotto rice. Keep stirring the rice to coat it with the flavours from the pan, then allow the rice to toast in the pan for a minute or two.
- Pour in enough stock to just cover the rice, stir well. From now on you will need to let the rice gently simmer, stirring every 30 seconds or so. Keep repeating this process, adding more stock to just cover, until the rice is al dente – soft with a slight bite. This should take around 15-20 minutes.
- When the rice has finished cooking, stir in the peas and a tbsp of butter. Turn off the heat and leave for 5 minutes. Add more seasoning as desired. Serve with grated cheese and an optional sprinkle of fresh tarragon.
Notes
- You can make mushroom powder yourself – just blend dried gourmet mushrooms such as porcinis or shitakes in a high-speed blender (I used shitake.) Alternatively, you can buy some here.
- We use Kallo mushroom stock, but you can also use chicken or vegetable stock.
