Wild mushroom and asparagus speltotto

While I'm on holiday in Finland, I timed a couple of posts to be published in the meanwhile, as I may not be able to post so much from there. I will of course catch up later what I was up to, but here's just a basic recipe of mine.

I made a spelt risotto for a change. I haven't made one for a while although it's one of my main favourites. When the new season asparagus start appearing in the shops and markets, I always want to make a risotto or a spelt risotto with them. In this recipe I combined the new local asparagus with some dried wild mushrooms, chanterelles in my case. The wild mushrooms are so intense, and when you let them infuse the vegetable stock, even a small amount of them can add a lot of flavour to the dish. I added a bell pepper and carrots as additional veg to this dish, and I enjoyed it very much.

Here is my recipe that makes quite a nice spring weekday meal.

Wild mushroom and asparagus speltotto

Ingredients

1 l vegetable stock

20 g dried wild mushrooms

1 onion

2 garlic cloves

1 bell pepper

2 carrots

2 tbsp olive oil

20 g butter

1 cup pearled spelt

50 g grated vegetarian pasta cheese

1 tsp sea salt

½ tsp ground black pepper

Bunch of asparagus

1 lemon

1 tbsp butter

Method

Heat the vegetable stock and add the dried mushrooms to it. Chop the onion and garlic finely, and dice the bell pepper and carrots.

Start cooking the onion in the olive oil, and cook until soft and a bit browned. Add the bell peppers and carrots and cook a while longer. Then also add the garlic.

After a few minutes, add the butter and the pearled spelt to the pan. Stir for a couple of minutes, and then make the first vegetable stock and mushroom addition.

Let the speltotto simmer under lid and keep making stock additions before the pan can dry up. When everything is nearly cooked, add the seasoning and cheese.

Prepare the asparagus in a separate pan by heating up some butter and cooking the asparagus spears there. Add juice of one lemon to finish. Serve the asparagus on top of the speltotto.

Enjoy!

Your VegHog