Every once in a while, you read amusing stories about the tension and strife that ensue when cooking in your mother’s kitchen. The hovering. The unsought advice. The skeptical brow. Unfortunately for you, dear reader, I have no such stories from this recent dinner. In the making of this ramp and mushroom risotto, I had free reign. Perhaps it is because I am male, or perhaps it is simply the nature of my mom, but there was no drama to rivet this tale.
I think we got most of the mother-child conflict out of our systems when I was in high school and needed heavy pushing to study and get into a good college. Her obstinate determination at that task exceeded even my own innate and not-insubstantial stubbornness. In the end, her mission was accomplished, for which I am eternally grateful.
Turning the tables and making her a great meal is the least I can do. This risotto, while not innovative in the slightest, was particularly good for three reasons: a homemade vegetable broth made with patience, the use of the last of my ramps, and a mix of porcini, shiitake and oyster mushrooms.
Ramp and Mushroom Risotto
Vegetable Broth
1 1/2 sweet or yellow spanish onions, quartered
4 carrots, peeled
3 celery stalks, halved to fit in the pot
handful of dried porcini mushrooms
4 garlic cloves, un-peeled
bouquet garni: large bunch of parsley, 2 bay leaves, and thyme sprigs, tied with kitchen string
12 cups of water
Risotto
1 lb arborio rice
1/2 sweet onion, finely chopped
20 small ramps, white stems thinly sliced and greens chopped (keep them separate)
handful of dried porcini mushrooms (treatment below)
2 large handfuls of shiitake mushrooms, chopped
2 handfuls of oyster mushrooms, chopped
4 tbsp unsalted butter
splash of olive oil
1/2 dry vermouth (or dry white wine)
8 cups of broth (see above)
salt and pepper
1/3 cup pecorino cheese, finely grated
1 1/2 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
Make the broth early in the day or on a previous day by combining all the ingredients, bringing to a boil, and then immediately reducing to a very gentle simmer. Cook for 5 or 6 hours, discard the vegetables, and strain the broth through a fine strainer.
Take another handful of dried porcini mushrooms and soak in boiling water for 15 to 20 minutes before starting the next step. Add most of the soaking liquid to the broth, but discard the last bit with the sediment from the mushrooms. Remove any hard parts still on the mushrooms and chop.
Bring the broth to a boil, reduce to the lowest heat and keep covered. Prep your pecorino cheese and parsley at this point.
In a large, heavy-bottomed pot (or high-sided saucepan), melt the butter and olive oil on medium heat. Add in the onion and chopped white stems from the ramps and saute for several minutes. Stir in the 3 types of mushrooms and continue to saute for 5 to 10 minutes.
Stir in the rice and cook for several minutes, stirring well. Turn up the heat to just above medium. Add in the vermouth, and stir it into the risotto, and then add a ladle full of broth. Stir until the liquid is mostly absorbed by the risotto. Add another two ladles of broth and then repeat the stirring process, the addition of liquid, the stirring, etc. Do not let the risotto dry out at any point, and do not add so much broth at any point that you flood the pot.
After 20 minutes, add in 1/8 tsp of salt, some freshly ground pepper, and stir in the ramp greens.
Cook for another 5 minutes and begin tasting for tenderness and salt and pepper. You want the risotto to be tender but not mush. It will probably take between 7 and 8 cups of the broth, and be done somewhere between 25 and 35 minutes.
Remove the pot from the heat, and stir in most of the pecorino cheese and fall of the fresh parsley.* Plate and sprinkle the last of the pecorino on top, along with some ground pepper.
*save the parsley until the very end, because uncooked it adds a nice fresh flavor and texture to the dish.
Note: some argue that you do not need to continually stir risotto, but I like the results that arise from the extra diligence.
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I’ll depart with a little taste of most-welcome spring:
Previous Risotto Posts:
Fennel Risotto
Chard Leaves Stuffed with Mushroom Risotto
Can you believe I’ve NEVER cooked with ramps before?!?? eeeek!!! better go get some and play with them in the kitchen!
I was the same way until Marc from No Recipes dragged me out on a foraging trip the other week! They are such a fabulous “secret”!
Giff,
What a lovely spring risotto. The first time I had ramps was this weekend in a wild mushroom sauce over gnocchi…lovely.
Also impressive that you had the patience to make your own vegetable stock. I usually make my own chicken or veal stock, but never realized how simple it was to make a veg stock! Ok, I will try it!
Very nice that you got to cook for all of your girls (mother included) this weekend!
Add me to the list of those who haven’t tried ramps. I will make it a point to find them and try them for sure. Your recipe looks wonderful and that beautiful bowl just highlights it even more. pretty daffodil too.
ramps? never heard of them. the risotto looks creamy and splendid.
Looks great Giff. I’m never patient enough to make risotto, but I may have to try this with whatever I find this weekend.
Ramps are so good in risotto & I love mushroom risotto so it has to be great
Oh dear. This looks too good. I’m afraid I may have to pilfer/imitate/riff on your recipe. I do so love risotto and I am still determined to get my hands on some ramps.
I can’t cook in Mom’s kitchen. She and I have no issues, but although she’s a good cook, as most of my family members are, I didn’t learn from her. She was always terrified about me making a mess. It’s an inherited trait. I’d often cook for my grandparents as they grew older and more infirm and my interest in cooking took off, but grandma would hang around the kitchen washing every dish as soon as I used it. Buncha clean nuts in my family!
I had never heard of ramps before I read this blog entry, and wouldn’t you know it — I came across some at the farmers’ market in Union Square today!!. So, I bought some and made the mushroom risotto. I made it with brown rice and I had to pull up a chair and sit by the stove stirring because it took about 3 times as long (and a lot more broth) to make those little brown devils tender enough to eat. But it was SO worth it! Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you so much for your site. This season was my first time to ever cook with ramps and this was the first main course I wanted to make. Your recipe was dead on what I wanted, and actually better than any other recipe I came across on the big recipe sites. (The pictures were a wonderful addition those sites don’t really provide, as well.)
Thanks all. Glad it worked for you Vaduz.
I’ve decided my favorite way to cook ramps is just to put them in a baking dish, sprinkle with olive oil and coarse salt, and broil until the leaves start to darken, then flip and continue broiling until the other side of the leaves start to blacken. Picked this up from Marc at No Recipes — it smells amazing and tastes marvelous.