A creamy and delicious baked risotto – no stirring required!
Prepare ahead then put your feet up while it cooks. Easy and impressive.
I’m slowly building up a set of recipes that can be part-prepared ahead of time, then left in a pre-set oven so that they’re cooked and ready to serve just when we want to eat them. For instance these bulgar-stuffed courgettes, and this potato and carrot layer bake. These recipes are super useful when I have to be out of the house for the hour before dinnertime. Usually thanks to my daughter Kipper’s busy leisure and social calendar!
Something different – baked risotto
This oven baked risotto was an attempt to make something a bit different that still fitted the prepare-ahead criteria. I last had a go at baked risotto back when I was a student a few *cough* years ago. At the time, I didn’t have a suitable dish to bake it in. I improvised by lining a loose-bottom cake tin with foil. It was not a success. The stock leaked around the foil and out through the join at the bottom of the tin, and the end results were a) a hard and largely inedible baked risotto and b) a filthy oven. Gah.
The right equipment
This time, I had the right equipment! My Mum gave me a brilliant casserole dish
a while ago. It’s made from a special kind of ceramic that is suitable for use on the hob. This means that you can start your baked mushroom risotto off on the stove and then transfer to the oven to finish cooking. (Mum actually bought this pot for herself before realising that it wouldn’t work on her induction cooker. Lucky for me!)
Baked risotto – no stirring required!
This easy baked risotto is brilliant! It comes out creamy and delicious, but you avoid all the tedious standing by the stove endlessly stirring. I made the mushroom risotto as usual, up to the point where I added the stock. Then, I simply put it in the oven to bake. I’d used the preset timer on my oven, so it turned itself on and finished cooking the risotto while we were out. If you’re not planning on going out, you can just pop the risotto straight into a hot oven and then put your feet up for 40 minutes while it cooks to creamy perfection.
Intense mushroom flavour
I used a few dried mushrooms
to really intensify the mushroomy flavour of this baked risotto. If you haven’t used dried mushrooms in a risotto before then do try it – they add a wonderful depth of flavour. I also used as many different interesting fungi as I could find in the supermarket, to give some texture to the finished dish. You can also use frozen mushrooms in this baked risotto, and it will come out delicious!
Delicious mushroom risotto
Everyone loved the mushroom baked risotto – even Kipper, who has been avoiding mushrooms recently for reasons best known only to herself.
This made enough for four main course servings. You could also serve this oven baked risotto as a side dish, in which case it would go further – at least 6 to 8 side dish sized portions.
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📖 Recipe
Wild mushroom baked risotto
Ingredients
- 15 g dried mushrooms (I used a ‘forest mix’)
- 2 small (or 1 medium) onion
- 6 cloves garlic
- 300 g mixed fresh mushrooms – e.g. white, chestnut, oyster, portabella, shiitake, maitake, enoki, shiro shimeji etc. (a
- 2-3 tablespoon olive oil
- 200 g arborio rice
- 75 ml white wine
- 600 ml vegetable stock + another 150ml (⅔ cup)
- 2-3 tablespoon chopped parsley
Instructions
- Put the dried mushrooms in a cup or a small jug, and cover with boiling water. Set aside to soak.
- Peel the onions and dice finely. Peel the garlic and cut each clove in half.
- Trim any dirt from the mushroom stems, then slice, chop or separate, depending on the type of mushroom.
- Heat the oil in a 2 litre (approx 2½ quart) oven-proof pan or casserole dish. Saute the onions and garlic over a low-medium heat for 2-3 minutes, then add the fresh mushrooms. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5-7 minutes until soft.
- Drain the soaked dried mushrooms, reserving the soaking liquid. Cut any large ones into pieces, then add to the pan with the onion & mushroom mixture. Cook for a further 2-3 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
- Add the rice to the pan and stir well to coat with the oil and cooking juices. Strain the mushroom soaking liquid into the pan, and add the white wine. Simmer for a minute or two, stirring, until the liquid is absorbed.
- Add 600ml (2⅔ cups) stock to the pan, cover with a lid, and transfer to the oven. Cook at 180°C (350°F) for 40-45 minutes until all the stock is absorbed and the rice is cooked.
- Remove from the oven, stir in the remaining 150ml (⅔ cup) of stock and the chopped parsley, and allow to stand for 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
More prepare-ahead recipes
If you love an all-in-one dish that you can prepare ahead and leave in the oven to cook, you might also enjoy this baked barley risotto with butternut squash, this all-in-one-pan roasted vegetable rice pilaf, or this vegan Iraqi tebit-inspired baked rice.
This baked risotto recipe will be my third and final entry into November’s Family Foodies, hosted by Louisa at Eat Your Veg and Vanesther at Bangers and Mash, which is after vegetarian recipes (this one’s even VEGAN!). And, as it’s a creamy warming delight starring the season’s wild mushrooms (if you can get your hands on them!), I’m also entering it into Simple & In Season, hosted by Katie at Feeding Boys and Ren at RenBehan.com.
kittendothroar
I so miss my casserole dish, I sold it a few years back when moving house and downsizing…bad choice as I miss these dishes! The risotto looks so good, oozing and mmmy!!
FFF
Thanks Anne! I love this casserole dish! It’s pyrex, so it isn’t too heavy, and it can go on the stove as well as in the oven. The pyrex ones are much less expensive than cast iron ones, too. I think it’s only about £15 on amazon. Treat yourself to a new one!
Katie Bryson (@cookingkt)
Exactly the kind of autumnal cooking I love best – packed with flavour but not too much effort involved! Thanks so much for hooking up with this month’s Simple and in Season.
FFF
Thanks Katie. I’m becoming a big fan of dishes where the oven does most of the work 🙂