Truffle Risotto and Arancini

The month of August is Truffle season in WA and damn we do truffles good! No longer do we have to go overseas chasing this black gold we can find it right here in our own backyard - and it's good, really good! 

Earlier this month I was lucky enough to get my hands on 50grams of the delicious fungi at the Mundaring Truffle Festival and last week I put it to use cooking a beautiful Truffle Risotto! After posting images of said risotto on Facebook I was greeted with requests on how to do it - so today I bring to you my Truffle Risotto and Arancini recipe - enjoy! 

NOTE: You can make these without Truffle, they are still delicious. You can also add different ingredients to the risotto depending on what you like ie porcini mushroom, pancetta, peas and asparagus (my favourite pea and pancetta).

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 litre of chicken stock (I make mine in bulk from scratch in advance using a roast chicken carcass, you can use bought stock if you feel more comfortable)
• 50 grams of butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 400g Aborio rice
• 2 glasses of dry white wine
• salt and pepper
• 75g butter
• Freshly grated Parmesan cheese (to your taste)
• Add 50 Grams fresh truffle (for truffle risotto)

Method

Heat the stock. In a separate pan, heat the olive oil and butter then add the onions and garlic and fry on low heat for about 15 minutes. When the garlic and onion have softened, add the rice and turn up the heat cooking until it's translucent.


Add the wine and stir. Once the wine has evaporated into the rice, add another ladle of stock and turn the heat down so the rice doesn’t cook quickly and close the lid. Keep adding the ladles of stock (and put lid on only checking to see when stock has been absorbed by rice - normally around 3 - 5 mins), stirring occasionally.The cooking process will take around 25 minutes. Add stock until the rice is soft but cooked al dente (a little bite) and if you run out of stock before the rice is cooked, add boiling water.
Remove from the heat and add butter and Parmesan. Stir well. Place a lid on the pan and allow to sit for two minutes. 

Serve and eat immediately. Leftovers can be used for Arancini see recipe below.

Truffle Risotto

To make simple Arancini from your leftover risotto you will need:

Ingredients:

• 3 to 4 eggs (beat into egg-wash) depending on how much you have leftover
• Breadcrumbs (fresh is best but packet will do)
• 100 grams Mozzarella, Fontina or Gouda (chopped into 1cm cubes)
• Canola Oil to deep fry

Method:

• Roll and mould the rice into a ball (I made mine about 5cms but they can be made smaller or bigger depending on what you are after)
• Gently insert cheese into mould making sure it's not poking out of the rice ball
• Pop rice ball into egg-wash coating the whole rice ball
• Dip the rice ball into the breadcrumbs making sure it is coated the whole way around. 
• Continue this until all rice balls are coated
• Heat oil into a deep fryer or deep fry pan (deep enough to cover the rice ball) and pop them in a few at a time - frying until golden brown.
• Serve warm on its own or with a dipping sauce - aioli is lovely!

Bon appetit x

Arancini made from using leftover risotto