Microwave Mushroom Risotto

Ingredients

As I said in my last post, being at university and having the bare minimum to cook with is extremely irritating for me. I apologise for not having written about anything in a while, but as I am in the midst of exams with nothing to cook with, it's been quite hard to find inspiration. However, this weekend just gone, I happened to be in the city centre and decided I'd try and cook my first meal in the microwave. At first I was very sceptical about the outcome, because using a microwave isn't ideal, but I wanted to try something new so I could share my experience with you. I eventually decided on a mushroom risotto, so bought some arborio rice, chestnut mushrooms, stock cubes, spring onions, garlic and cheese, while my friend back in halls acquired some butter, salt and pepper from the dining room for me.



I would say that this is a good recipe for students who only own a microwave because the ingredients are cheap and easy to obtain, and the method is so simple. 

However, as you can probably guess, the final product wasn't a huge success. It tasted nice, but it could have been a lot better had I cooked it in a pan on the hob. Another factor which contributed to it being an average meal was that I couldn't find any parsley in the shops - which I think would have brought another dimension to the food and made it taste a lot more fresh. Having said that, I am a perfectionist and I'm sure that any student who likes risotto would enjoy this meal. I would suggest using onions or leeks instead of the spring onions though, as sadly, they pretty much disintegrated! 


INGREDIENTS
(serves 3/4)

40g butter
1 leek/onion, chopped
1 garlic clove
1 cup arborio risotto rice
2 cups vegetable/chicken stock
cheese, grated (I used cheddar, parmesan would be better)
handful of parsley

Softened spring onions with garlic
and butter

METHOD

• Combine butter, leek/onion and garlic to a large microwaveable bowl. Microwave on HIGH for 2 minutes until the leek/onion is soft. 
• Add rice and stir until coated with butter mixture. Microwave on HIGH for 1 minute.
• Stir in 1 cup of stock. Microwave on HIGH for 5 minutes and then on MEDIUM for a further 7 minutes.
• Stir in the mushrooms and another cup of stock and microwave for 7 minutes.
• Leave to stand for 5 minutes.
• Season with salt and pepper, and sprinkle on some parsley to finish.

I am aware that this doesn't look pretty at
all! It tasted better than it looks - I
promise! 

Like I've said, the recipe is simple and pretty much anyone could make this dish. However if you do have a hob handy I suggest using that instead. Just put the garlic, butter and leeks in a pan until the leeks are soft, add the rice and then coat with the mixture. Next, add the stock (and perhaps some white wine) a ladle-full at a time until it has all been fully absorbed by the rice. Finish off in the same way as the microwavable recipe suggests.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to do another post for a couple of weeks, however over summer I will be very active as I am visiting Italy where the food is incredible, and I'll have a lot more free time to cook at home. I also think I'm giving my boyfriend, Jack, a crash course in cheap and easy student cooking too so I will keep you all posted on how that goes! 

If you're a student out there and fancy trying this recipe out, let me know how it goes with the amendments I made to my own experience!