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A seemingly gourmet dish, this Parmesan truffle risotto recipe is easy to make and the black truffle flavor sends it out of this world.
Alex and I talk to a lot of people about cooking and healthy eating. So many people want it to be easy: like SNAP! I’m healthy. I cook gourmet meals in 15 minutes or less. And they look Instagram fabulous.
But when you get down to it, learning to cook—reclaiming our kitchens—is not about a quick fix. It’s not even about finding the right pots and pans or the right cookbooks. It’s about learning, setting up new habits, trial and error. And through it all, the biggest predictor of success is not your skill level or mental ability. It’s GRIT. Keep reading for more about reclaiming the kitchen and this Parmesan truffle risotto recipe.
Related: 10 Romantic Dinner Recipes
Let’s reclaim the kitchen
Grit—perseverance, is what separates the men from the boys and the women from the girls. Someone with grit tries something, fails, and tries again. Someone with grit thinks: how could I make that dish tastier? Quicker? What if I prepped part of it in the morning? What if I made a quick meal during the week and then splurged on a fancy risotto on the weekend? What if I used all the leftovers in my refrigerator tonight instead of buying something new?
As many 5 tips for a healthy kitchen posts as I write, I can’t convince you to cook more or eat lots of vegetables—because it requires grit. It requires creativity, exploration, and an insatiable desire for learning. It requires a sense of adventure to try new things. And that, I think, is how we reclaim our kitchens.
Related: 12 Easy Dutch Oven Recipes
Tips on how to make risotto
A few things we’ve learned about risotto over the years:
- Risotto is a technique of stirring broth into short-grain Arborio rice that makes it become soft and creamy. No boxed risotto necessary!
- This Parmesan risotto takes about 40 minutes to make. 25 of those minutes require babysitting a pot of rice. The flavor that results makes it ultimately worth it!
- Cooking with wine = straight up flavor! You can omit it, but it’s a perfect excuse for drinking the remainder with your meal (or while you cook).
- I’ve made this recipe by myself while watching a very busy toddler. For me, I loved the challenge. Depending on your personality and/or grit level, you may or may not want to make this while parenting. (You’ve been warned!)
- Adding black truffle flavor takes this truffle risotto from wow to WOW. We found these canned mushrooms and black truffles at our local grocery and they are also available on Amazon. While they’re a bit spendy, they’re much, much less expensive than real truffles!
Related: Another favorite Italian recipe — our Margherita pizza!
More truffle recipes
If you’re into truffles, we’ve got some recipes for you!
- Try Parmesan Truffle Fries: crispy on the outside, tender on the inside
- Go with a big pan of Truffle Mac and Cheese
- Truffle Pizza is incredible and a must make
- For brunch, try Truffled Egg with Smoked Salmon
This truffle risotto recipe is…
This Parmesan truffle risotto is vgetarian and gluten-free.
Related: Try using our Homemade Vegetable Broth for this recipe!
Parmesan Truffle Risotto
A seemingly gourmet dish, this Parmesan truffle risotto recipe is pretty simple to put together, and the black truffle flavor sends it out of this world.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 8 cups vegetable broth
- 1 large shallot
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 ½ cups Arborio rice
- ¾ cup white wine
- ¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus additional for garnish
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 tablespoons canned black truffles and mushrooms (or drizzle with truffle oil)*
- Fresh ground pepper
Instructions
- Place broth in a medium saucepan and heat to a simmer; reduce heat and keep warm.
- Mince the shallot.
- In a large heavy-bottomed skillet, pot or Dutch oven, heat the butter over medium high heat. Add the shallot, reduce heat to medium, and cook until the shallots are translucent, stirring often, about 3 minutes. Add the rice and stir to combine; cook for 2 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high and add the white wine. Cook, stirring, until liquid is almost evaporated, a few minutes.
- At this point, you’re ready to start adding the broth. Add ½ cup warmed broth to skillet. Cook, stirring frequently, until broth is almost absorbed. Repeat, gradually adding broth ½ cup at a time and stirring, until rice is tender but still al dente and sauce is creamy (you may not need all the broth). The process should take about 20 to 25 minutes.
- Stir in the Parmesan cheese. Continue to stir until combined (or turn off the heat and cover the dish for a few minutes). Remove from heat and stir in salt and truffles.* Taste, and adjust seasonings as desired. Serve immediately, garnished with additional Parmesan cheese and fresh ground pepper.
Notes
For a humbler meal you can omit the black truffles, but they’re absolutely worth the splurge. If you can’t find these canned black truffles and mushrooms, use a drizzle of white or black truffle oil as a garnish. White truffle oil tends to be stronger and best for the garnish if you can find it! Here’s more on where to find truffle oil.
Most Parmesan isn’t vegetarian so this dish is not either
After trying many a mushroom risotto, I found this recipe and attempted to make it myself. It was amazing! I will definitely be making this again, and will probably include different type of mushrooms too. The truffle oil put it over the top!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Don’t you love the truffle?! :)
can we use chicken broth instead of vegetable?
Yes!
Making risotto is therapeutic. Take the time. It’s lovely.
I found this recipe while search for a good risotto recipe. When I looked at the ingredients, I knew this recipe was good! I made it last night and is was absolutely delicious! It was creamy and perfect! My fiance thought it was good too. Thanks for posting!
We are so glad to hear this! Knowing you and your fiance enjoyed a good meal makes us so happy! Thanks for letting us know.
I’m a guy an i very rarely cook. My girlfriend and I love this dish (in restaurants). So I thought I’ll give it a try. First time in my life cooking anything like this, and it turned out perfect. So delicious. Thank you so much for the clear and easy instructions, maybe cooking isn’t that hard after all :).
I love risotto. This one looks delicious. I definitely need to plan ahead to make risotto. It’s a weekend thing for me because that’s when I find the time and I can keep the children occupied while I make it.
Yep, same thing for me too! I’d agree it’s best to have kids occupied if possible :)
Hi there, you never mention when to add the truffles in your instructions! Do you add them at the end with the parmesan? Thanks!
Hi there! It says to “add the truffles and salt” in Step 5 of the recipe — the third sentence! Hope you enjoy it!
Oh I love a good risotto! It’s always scared me away due to the hands on time, but it looks TOTALLY worth it!
I always make risottos in a pressure cooker – takes 7 minutes, no constant stirring needed and taste /consistency is perfect.
How cool! What ratios for rice and broth do you use?
It absolutely is! Or, per Nicole’s comment below, you could make it in an instant pot! We’ve never done that but sounds like a good idea.
Thank you so much! Us too, but this one is pretty simple! And to us, totally worth it.