Mushroom Risotto

Chef Naomi Pomeroy uses barley to make her hearty version of risotto, packed with sautéed oyster mushrooms. The dish is substantial enough to be a main course for a lunch; to make it vegetarian, substitute good vegetable stock for the beef broth.

Chef Dave Beran adds a little whipped cream to this earthy mushroom risotto, which improbably makes the dish a little lighter tasting. The ultimate wine pairing: an earthy Barbaresco.

This mushroom risotto is a great dinner idea for a special occasion.

For this fabulous seafood risotto, Oakes folds in Dungeness crab, which is abundant in the Bay Area, but the dish is delicious with any fresh local crab. If oyster mushrooms aren’t available, try other varieties, like clamshell, lobster or abalone mushrooms—all are excellent with shellfish.

The Good News This vegetarian risotto is infused with the moderately hot Chimayó chile powder from the town of Chimayó in northern New Mexico. Shiitakes not only add an earthy flavor, they also provide zinc and several B vitamins.

If you’re using canned chicken broth to make risotto, be sure it’s low-sodium. The broth reduces at the same time that it’s cooking into the rice, and regular canned broth would become much too salty.

Simmer the mushroom trimmings and a few chopped tomatoes in the vegetable stock to enhance the flavor.

Fresh and dried mushrooms give this risotto a double dose of earthy flavor. You can use twice the shrimp and no scallops, or the reverse. If you prefer sea scallops, quarter them.

Using the mushroom-soaking liquid to cook the rice gives this risotto intense flavor. There's just enough goat cheese to balance the earthiness of the porcini with a touch of tartness without overwhelming the dish.

An intensely fruity wine like an Amarone boils down to something so rich, it's almost meaty. Jean-Georges Vongerichten reduces the Italian red with thin slices of earthy mushrooms, then swirls the purply sauce into a risotto; it would be equally delicious on polenta or even on a piece of grilled bread.