no-stir truffle oven risotto with truffle and mushroom
If risotto is Italian to the core—technique driven, regionally specific, and deceptively tough to get right—then oven risotto, which is the same dish while being absolutely none of those things, is definition Italian Enough. But I have seen recipes for this technique referred to as a risotto “hack,” which pisses me off.
Hacking implies you cheated the rules of time and effort required, and as a result there is some less than ideal consequence you have to be ok with in exchange. To me, whether a “hack” is worth it depends on how the math shakes out between what you saved and what you lost. For me, that math rarely adds up in favor of taking the easy way out, except in rare circumstances where you truly have nothing to lose.
But is it a “hack,” really, if what’s saved comes not at a low enough cost, but no cost? Or is it just, maybe, a better way of doing the same thing than was originally known, no matter what tradition would have you believe and that we keep doing simply because we’re trying to prove a very Italian point?
Because, for real, I’ve done it both ways, countless times for science, and: there is no change in outcome. It’s the same creamy, dreamy risotto vibe with a microscopic fraction of the work and honestly more predictable consistency. Just as the Instant Pot can braise meat arguably better with less work than even the longest slowest trip to the oven, sometimes the original and most traditional way ≠ the best way, an admission that may send 100 years of furious nonna spirits back down to earth to smite me for my heresy.
All that is to say that oven risotto really is my hero of winter lockdown. it’s dense enough to be satisfying and yet far lighter than it looks, creamy while being creamless, extremely hands-off to make and yet fancy enough to make yet another Friday night in feel a little more ~restaurant quality~.
Beyond that there isn’t a whole lot else to say about it, because the sotto speaks for itself. The actual template is a blank canvas for any number of permutations. You can throw everything into the pan in the span of about 4 minutes, give it all a single half-assed stir, and then go do a workout followed by a quick rinse and still get back in time for a sip of wine before it’s time to pull it out of the oven. Appropriately, the entire recipe fits neatly in a single frame of an Instagram story with space to spare.
After buying a tiny jar of black winter truffles for a black truffle Valentine’s Day pasta, I felt a lot of pressure to use the remaining 1.5 truffle nugs on something appropriately worthy—and there is no more fulfilling destiny for a truffle, in my opinion, than to become this risotto, exactly Italian enough, no more and no less, to belong in a place called Italian Enough.
RECIPE
The ultimate in Italian luxury that doesn’t come from a Gucci store. Here a classic risotto base gets the hands-off, no-stir treatment, cooked in the oven before being stirred with plump sauteed mushrooms and good parm, then showered in loads of fresh (!!!!!) truffle shavings for a very, very fancy night in.
Effortful time: <10 minutes
Total time: 45 minutes
Serves 4
YOU NEED
For the risotto
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 small shallot, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup dry white wine (or sub broth)
3 cups chicken broth, I like Better than Bouillon, HOT (can also sub vegetable or mushroom broth)
Salt and pepper, to taste
To finish
1 lb. mushrooms, any kind, I used baby belas
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 tbsp. truffle butter (or just more regular butter)
Chopped parsley
1/2 cup grated parm
Truffle shavings, totally ridiculous and entirely optional
MAKE IT
Prepare to make risotto. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Heat your broth: I just microwave hot water for 2 minutes in one of these silicone measuring cups and mix in the Better than Bouillon for easy pour-age.
Create the risotto base. In a 9-10” wide, shallow, oven-safe pan, combine all the ingredients on the “risotto” list. Stir to combine.
Cook the risotto base. Cover and bake for 35 minutes. You don’t need to stir it or disturb it in any way! It’s doing its magical thing all by itself. If you don’t heat your broth, it will take 10-15 minutes more.
Cook the mushrooms. While the risotto bakes, saute the mushrooms in the additional 1 tbsp. of butter until they’ve reduced in size by about half, around 10 minutes.
Finish the risotto.Take out your risotto. It should still look pretty “runny”—this is what you want—but the rice should be tender and fully cooked. If it’s not, recover and bake up to 15 minutes more, checking every five minutes. I’ve made this dish 5 times in the last 2 months, and the only time 35 minutes wasn’t enough is when I didn’t heat the broth in advance. The cheese will finish the thickening process. Stir in the parm, truffle (or final tablespoon of regular) butter, and cooked mushrooms until fully combined, creamy, and “pooling” in the pot.
Plate it up. Top with chopped parsley and/or truffle shavings if you want to be extra like I was.