This Baked Wild Mushroom and Bacon Risotto is one of my recipes, as it’s filled with a savoury, earthiness that just can’t be beat! Autumn is the perfect time to prepare this dish, when fresh wild mushrooms are in season. Pair this incredible dish with a Pinot Noir or even a Gamay Noir, such as a Beaujolais Cru. I chose a personal Gamay Noir favourite from Oregon. Whichever wine you choose, I’m sure you’ll agree that this is a perfect pairing!
I like to mix up this dish with an array of mushrooms. I also, tend to chop them up into small piece, otherwise my kids won’t eat them! Also, it’s a great way to further infuse the mushroom flavour into the risotto. I use three types of mushrooms for this dish; Porcini, Chestnut and Chanterelle. I prefer to use dried Porcini mushrooms soaked in chicken stock because they add a hearty, rich depth to the mix. Chestnut mushrooms are added for weight, texture and more subtle earthy flavours. Finally, if you can fine fresh mushrooms, I recommend using Chanterelles. They’re just so beautiful and gorgeous in the autumn and their sweet, buttery apricot-like flavour adds a whole new level of complexity to the dish. When I lived in Sweden, this autumnal delicacy was available to pick in the nearby forest. It’s really a hidden treasure that Swedes absolutely adore in the autumn. Check in out this video to learn more about Chanterelles (kantarelle in Swedish) from the Swedish King of Chanterelles, Anders Sjögren, then check out this video. It’s incredible how many he manages to pick.
Prepping the Ingredients
- Begin by set the oven to 180°C and in a saucepan simmer the chicken stock over medium-high heat. Then roughly chop the dried Porcini mushrooms. Immediately, add them to the simmering chicken stock. I love the way their flavours are extracted and blend with the chicken stock. If you’re vegetarian you can substitute the chicken broth for vegetable broth. It really won’t make a difference.
- Next, sauté the bacon lardons in a hot Dutch oven pot for about 2 minutes over medium heat. If you don’t want to used bacon, then add some olive oil to the pot instead to substitute the fattiness that the lardons offer.
- Then add the chopped onion and chopped chestnut mushrooms into the bacon lardons and cook another 2 minutes. Make sure you stir the ingredients so they don’t burn.
- Carefully pour in the Arborio rice and white wine. Stir everything together continuously and cook for another minute over medium-high heat.
- Then add 4 cups of the chicken and Porcini mushroom stock (1 cup will be left over to add at the end). Bring everything to a boil and stir. Cover and bake in the oven for 25 minutes.
- Meanwhile, have the remaining ingredients ready to go!
Serving
- Carefully remove the risotto from the oven after 25 minutes. Remove the lid and quickly add the Parmesan cheese, frozen peas, butter, salt and pepper and place the lid back on. This helps the butter and cheese melt and keeps the heat in.
- After 2 minutes, uncover and gently stir everything together while adding up to 1 cup of the remaining chicken broth (which should still be warm). At this point the risotto should be creamy and warm.
- Meanwhile, sauté the fresh wild Chanterelles in 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter.
- Serve in bowls with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and topped with the sautéed Chanterelles. Season with more salt and pepper if desired.
Wine Pairing
- Pair this Baked Wild Mushroom and Bacon Risotto Mushroom Risotto with your favourite Pinot Noir, Gamay or Beaujolais wine (Morgon or Moulin a Vent) . I’ve paired this amazing dish with an Evening Land Seven Springs Vineyard 2016 Gamay Noir. I found this gem in my local Bottle Apostle. As I used to work for Evening Land, seeing the green label prominently displayed on the shelf made me do a double-take…could it be?!?!? Yes! I couldn’t believe my luck and actually purchased all the bottles they had!! The Gamay grape expresses the Oregon terroir in such a beautiful way. Filled with ripe raspberry, red cherry, and red plum flavours but also subtle notes of spice and savoury notes. The use of carbonic maceration and storage for 8 months in neutral oak add further complexities to this amazing wine. If you can get your hands on a bottle…please do! This is a great wine!
Baked Wild Mushroom and Bacon Risotto
Equipment
- Dutch oven pot
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup dried Porcini mushrooms
- 5 cups simmering chicken broth
- 1 lb bacon lardons
- 1 diced yellow onion
- 250 grams chopped chestnut mushrooms
- 2 cups Arborio rice
- 1/4 cup dry light bodied white wine (Pinot Grigio or Chablis)
- 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 cups frozen peas
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 tsp salt
- 1.5 tbsp ground black pepper
- 1 cup sautéed fresh wild mushrooms Chanterelles are best!
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
Instructions
- Set the oven to 180°C.
- Bring the chicken stock to a slow simmer and then add the chopped, dried Porcini mushrooms.
- Cook the bacon lardons in a hot Dutch oven pot for about 2 minutes over medium heat.
- Add the chopped onion and and chestnut mushrooms and cook another 2 minutes.
- Add the Arborio rice and white wine. Cook for another minute.
- Then add 4 cups of the chicken and Porcini mushroom stock (1 cup will be left over to add at the end). Bring to a boil and stir.
- Cover and bake in the oven for 25 minutes.
- Meanwhile, have the remaining ingredients ready to go!
- After 25 minutes, remove from the oven.
- Quickly add the Parmesan cheese, frozen peas, butter, salt and pepper and place the cover back on.
- After 2 minutes, uncover and gently stir everything together.
- Add up to 1 cup of the remaining chicken broth (which should still be warm).
- Stir together and add more of the chicken broth if needed. At this point the risotto should be creamy and warm.
- Cover until ready to serve.
- Sauté the wild mushrooms in a little butter for a few minutes until tender.
- Plate the risotto, top with the sautéed mushrooms, grated Parmesan cheese and season with salt and pepper.
- Wine pairing: Gamay Noir or Pinot Noir