Truffle Risotto with Mushrooms & Asparagus
Truffle Risotto is a creamy, rich rice dish that’s delicious as a first course, light entrée or side.
This post is dedicated to trying again. Even if an early failure has kept you intimidated–for years.
I barely remember the first time I tried to make the tasty risotto I loved to eat in restaurants. But when that attempt failed, I simply gave up. Buried in career and parenting responsibilities, I didn’t feel I could spare the time.
But I couldn’t dodge it forever. Risotto is so rich, creamy and special that I knew it couldn’t be limited to an occasional meal out. And when my second attempt came together flawlessly, I felt silly.
So, if you too have fear-of-risotto, I am here to encourage you to give it a try. Consider me your cheering section!
What is Risotto?
Per Wikipedia, Risotto “ is an Italian rice dish cooked with broth until it reaches a creamy consistency. The broth can be derived from meat, fish, or vegetables. Many types of risotto contain butter, onion, white wine, and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.” It is often made in special flavors like today’s Truffle Risotto or Pumpkin Risotto.
Risotto requires a special type of rice such as Arborio, which will release starch in a way that turns it creamy and rich. Even better, this Truffle Risotto uses black truffle oil to put the dish over the top with flavor!
Why You’ll Love This!
Gourmet level flavor. The taste is good enough for fine dining, so you know it’s going to be delicious!
Easier than you think. I didn’t have to stir until my arm fell off and we loved the results. Yes, I really felt silly for waiting so long to try again.
Special. This will be perfect for impressing guests. Or just a lovely Sunday supper.
What You’ll Need
Ingredient Notes
- Butter. Or oil. This is used to sautee both the rice and the asparagus mushroom topping.
- Shallot, garlic. These add flavor to both rice and topping.
- Arborio rice. This is a special form of rice that works well for risotto. You can NOT use regular rice for this.
- White wine. This adds flavor and liquid.
- Vegetable broth. This adds flavor and liquid to help the starches release. I do not recommend a meat broth since that can detract from the truffle flavor.
- Truffle oil. This provides the truffle flavor.
- Parmesan cheese. (Diary or vegan) This adds flavor and creaminess to the rice and the topping..
- Mushrooms, asparagus. These form the bulk of the flavorful topping.
- Salt, pepper. These enhance flavor. Use truffle salt when you salt the risotto if you have it for extra flavor layering.
Special Tools
- No special tools required!
Step by Step Directions
Mince the shallot finely. Set aside half for later. In a small saucepan, heat the broth. Keep warm–it’s important to only add warm broth.
In a small Dutch Oven or heavy saucepan, melt the butter. Sautee half of the minced shallot until tender, then add 1 clove of minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
Add the rice and stir for 2 minutes. Add the wine and cook, stirring, until it’s all absorbed.
Add ½ cup of the warm broth to the rice. Cook, stirring frequently, until broth is mostly absorbed and you can see the pan bottom as you stir. Repeat, adding broth ½ cup at a time and stirring, until rice is tender and sauce is creamy (you may not need all the broth). This should take about 20 minutes. Don’t forget to keep the broth warm which is important to the success of this.
In between stirs, prepare the topping. Melt the butter in a small frying pan, then sautee the remaining half of the minced shallot until tender. Add 1 clove of minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the sliced mushrooms and salt generously. Cook until most of the liquid is absorbed, then add the chopped asparagus. Steam until tender.
When the rice is tender and creamy, stir in the Parmesan cheese and truffle oil. Add salt and pepper to taste and adjust truffle oil amount if needed.
Top with the mushroom asparagus mixture and serve immediately, sprinkled with additional Parmesan if desired.
How to Serve
In Italy, risotto is served as a first course, but in the US, it is often served as a light entrée or as a side. Since this particular risotto is very low on protein, it should be paired with a higher protein dish.
And this would be especially lovely sharing a plate with any nice entrée. Consider a king salmon steak, my tasty Halibut Oscar or stay with the Italian theme and serve it with Sicilian Steak.
Variations and Special Diets
This dish is vegetarian. To go vegan, you’d just need to use oil or margarine instead of butter and a vegan cheese. And for a simpler ingredient mix, how about a Creamy Vegetable Risotto.
There are many different options to flavor risotto. Now that I am past my fear I can’t wait to experiment!
Leftovers
Store any leftovers covered in the refrigerator. They can be reheated in the oven or microwave the next day.
Tips & FAQs
This is a small batch that will provide a generous serving for two or smaller servings for four. If you’re serving a larger group, the recipe should double without a problem.
I used part chicken broth in mine and didn’t like the flavor it added. Perhaps, as homemade broth, it was more intense than a commercial broth. But I’ll be using vegetable broth in the future.
A small Dutch oven works well for this since it’s beautiful going right from stove to table.
More Side Dish Recipes:
- Copycat Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits from Cheese Curd In Paradise
- Corn Souffle from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
- Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes from Blogghetti
- Easy Zucchini Casserole from Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
- Jeweled Rice from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
- Pomegranate Acorn Squash with Burrata from Palatable Pastime
- Roasted Tomato Macaroni and Cheese from The Spiffy Cookie
- Spinach Souffle from A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Sri Lankan Spicy Potatoes from Magical Ingredients
- Sweet Chili Candied Pumpkin Seed Deviled Eggs from Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
- Truffle Risotto with Mushrooms and Asparagus from Art of Natural Living
Truffle Risotto
Ingredients
Risotto:
- 1 Tablespoon butter or oil
- ½ shallot
- 1 clove garlic minced
- ¾ cup Arborio rice
- ¼ cup wine
- 2 1/2 cups vegetable broth up to 3, as needed
- 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese dairy or vegan
- ½ - 1 Tablespoon black truffle oil
Topping:
- 1 Tablespoon butter or oil
- ½ shallot minced
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 4 ounces mushrooms sliced
- Salt pepper
- 6 stalks asparagus cut in bite-sized pieces
Instructions
- Mince the shallot finely. Set aside half for later.
- In a small saucepan, heat the broth. Keep warm.
- In a small Dutch Oven or heavy saucepan, melt the butter or heat the oil. Sautee half of the minced shallot until tender, then add 1 clove of minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add the rice and stir for 2 minutes. Add the wine and cook, stirring, until it’s all absorbed.
- Add ½ cup of the warm broth to the rice. Cook, stirring frequently, until broth is mostly absorbed and you can see the pan bottom as you stir. Repeat, adding broth ½ cup at a time and stirring, until rice is tender and sauce is creamy (you may not need all the broth). This should take about 20 minutes.
- In between stirs, prepare the topping. Melt the butter in a small frying pan, then sautee remaining half of the minced shallot until tender. Add 1 clove of minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the sliced mushrooms and salt liberally. Cook until most of the liquid is absorbed, then add the chopped asparagus. Steam until tender.
- Stir in the Parmesan cheese and truffle oil. Add salt and pepper to taste and adjust truffle oil amount if needed.
- Top with the mushroom asparagus mixture and serve immediately, sprinkled with additional Parmesan if desired.
The rich flavors in this risotto makes it ideal to have at the holiday table. This is simply awesome.
Risotto is one of my fave side dishes! This one looks so creamy and delicious. And that truffle oil!! Oh my goodness. I can’t wait to try find some and try this.
This is one side dish I must make! I love everything about it.
Risotto is one of our go-to meals (which might explain our girth!) — yours looks beautiful!
I love a good risotto and adding truffles sounds amazing!
This risotto looks creamy and dreamy! The truffle oil is a great finishing touch. I’m glad you found success on the second try!
I love risotto. I’ve actually made it in the Instant Pot and it turned out well amazingly enough. Your flavors sound delicious.
Now that could cause me to break out the Instant Pot!
I love risotto too and this version sounds amazing.
Thanks Wendy!
I just hate when I discover that something I first failed at in the kitchen turns out to be rather simple after I try it a few more times. It’s so frustrating. So glad that your second attempt turned out so beautifully.
We should just learn from that now, shouldn’t we 🙂 !