Branching Out On Our Own (or Wild Mushroom and Fig Risotto)

Everyone gets into a rut sometimes. Whether it’s a workout rut, a house rut, or a cooking rut, they exist and they can be pretty deep and hard to escape from. I can’t say that our cooking was in a deep rut, but I have been wanting to branch out lately and try a few new things. To that end, one of my goals this year is to try more of my own recipes. I have a good sense of what types of flavors go together, so I should be able to create the occasional winner and the more than occasional second place meal.

One of my first experiments was with a food I know I can cook well: risotto.

There are very few secrets to a good risotto. You start with rice (or in our case, Emmer Farro) cook it long and slow by adding a small amount of heated broth at a time, and then finish it off with some cheese. There are lots of other things you can do to it, but those few steps are all that’s basically required.

We knew we had some dried mushrooms at home, but we wanted some other flavor to add to the risotto. John suggested fig. I was skeptical. Figs? Really? With mushrooms? But the more I thought about it, the better it sounded.

So here is our recipe for Wild Mushroom and Fig Risotto.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups Emmer farro or rice
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 cups mushroom broth
• 2 cups water
• 2 ounces dried mushrooms
• 1-2 cups dried figs
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Directions

Heat 2 cups of water to just below boiling.

In a heat-proof bowl, pour the hot water over the dried mushrooms. Let sit for at least half an hour.

With a slotted spoon, remove the mushrooms, but reserve the liquid. It should have a lovely brown color.

Roughly chop the soft mushrooms and set aside.

Chop the figs into quarters.

In a saucepan, add the 2 cups of mushroom broth and the mushroom water. Heat on low.

In a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the Emmer or rice and stir to coat.

Add the heated broth, a half cup to a cup at a time to the Emmer. You should only add the next half cup of broth when the previous half cup has nearly cooked off.

When you are down to the last half cup of broth, add the chopped mushrooms and chopped figs. Once the broth has nearly cooked off, add the Parmesan cheese and serve.