Sausage and Mushroom Risotto With Raisins

Name: Sausage and Mushroom Risotto With Raisins
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Cuisine: italian
Ingredients: 1/3 cup golden raisins; 6 ounces sweet or hot Italian sausage (about 1 1/2 links), casings removed; 2 small cloves garlic, finely minced; 3 ounces (1 cup) cremini mushrooms, cleaned, trimmed and quartered; 4 1/2 cups lightly salted chicken broth; 2 tablespoons butter; 1 tablespoon olive oil; 3 tablespoons finely minced onion; 2 tablespoons finely minced celery; 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt or to taste; 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste; 1 1/2 cups Arborio rice; 1/2 cup white wine; 1 small head radicchio (8 ounces), shredded (4 cups); 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese; 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves (no stems), finely chopped

By Sam Sifton

Total Time: About 1 hour
Rating: 4(59)
Comments: Read comments

This risotto is a variation on a dish the chef and restaurateur Jimmy Bradley’s grandmother made when he was a kid, shuttling between parents in Rhode Island and Philadelphia. Mr. Bradley hauled it out one day when he had mushrooms to spare; it started as a special and was until recently served on the menu at the Red Cat, beneath a sweet-and-sour glazed quail. You don’t need the quail. As is true in so much of Bradley's cooking, there is a genuine interplay of flavors and textures at work in the dish. Above the foundation of broth-enriched rice, the sweet of the raisins rides calmly into the bite of the radicchio. Meanwhile, the soft, salty whoosh of the cheese rises up over the loamy richness of the mushrooms like steam over a marsh. The sausage seems an elegant afterthought, fennel-studded excess to help blunt autumn’s chill.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings

⅓cup golden raisins
6ounces sweet or hot Italian sausage (about 1½ links), casings removed
2small cloves garlic, finely minced
3ounces (1 cup) cremini mushrooms, cleaned, trimmed and quartered
4½cups lightly salted chicken broth
2tablespoons butter
1tablespoon olive oil
3tablespoons finely minced onion
2tablespoons finely minced celery
½teaspoon kosher salt or to taste
¼teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
1½cups Arborio rice
½cup white wine
1small head radicchio (8 ounces), shredded (4 cups)
⅓cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1tablespoon fresh thyme leaves (no stems), finely chopped

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
Place raisins in a bowl; cover with hot water. Set aside to plump.
Step 2
Combine sausage and garlic in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook 5 minutes, breaking up sausage, until meat begins to brown. Reduce heat and add mushrooms. Cover and cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms start to exude liquid.
Step 3
Simmer broth in a saucepan.
Step 4
Melt butter in oil in an enamel-lined cast-iron casserole over medium heat. Add onion, celery, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper; sauté 5 minutes, until vegetables are translucent. Add rice and cook, stirring, 1 to 2 minutes, until edges of rice are translucent and coated with pan juices. Add wine and simmer 3 minutes, stirring continuously, until wine has almost evaporated. Add ½ cup hot broth; stir over medium-low heat until rice mixture is moist, not runny. Repeat, adding ½ cup hot broth at a time, until rice is al dente and mixture is creamy (about 20 minutes; adjust heat to keep rice cooking gently and add more hot broth or water if needed).
Step 5
Drain raisins and add to rice. Add sausage mixture, radicchio, Parmesan and thyme and mix well. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. Serve immediately.

Ratings

4 out of 5

59 user ratings

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Comments

Walt7 years ago

The sausage, mushroom, and raisin are overwhelmed by the radicchio.

John5 months ago

This is one of our favorites and part of a regular rotation, but I do make some changes. I omit the raisins. I make about half the recipe but keep the full amount or a bit more of sausage and mushrooms. We don’t usually have radicchio, but I usually add spinach, kale, or chopped carrots. This gives us dinner for two and leftovers for lunch.

Paul2 years ago

So this is an excellent recipe; used Basmati ,red vermouth ,Gruyère, and spritz oiled-then broiler toasted the radicchio . I mixed in a 1/2 lemon squeeze then placed the cast in a 350 oven to set it up (10 “) sprinkled Dole surgary coated fig bits (instead of raisin) (substitutes made because of availability ;my guest s gave me 4+⭐️

kirs10m2 years ago

My spouse hates radicchio (sadness!), so I omit it. My first batch turned out surprisingly bland, but I knew the recipe had potential. Next time, I increased the shrooms and sausage, cooked them with the garlic and plenty of salt in the risotto pot. I removed that mixture from the pot briefly to start the risotto, then added it back in right after the first ladle of broth, along with sprigs of thyme. The thyme leaves fall off the stems and it’s easy to pluck stems out at the end. So delicious!

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