Michelin starred chef Tom Aiken‘s early exposure to food and wine came from his father and grandfather, who were both wine merchants. Tom and his identical twin brother, Rob, both studied at Norwich City College Hotel School. At 22, Tom became chef de partie at Pierre Koffmann’s legendary La Tante Claire in London. In 1993, he became sous chef at Pied à Terre in London and then gained more Michelin experience at three-star level in France. In 1996 he returned Pied à Terre and, aged just 26, became the youngest head chef to earn a second Michelin star. It was when Tom launched his eponymous restaurant in London in 2003 that he sealed his reputation as one of the most exciting young chefs in the UK. His second, more informal restaurant, Tom’s Kitchen, was launched in October 2006. Tom has also written several cook books.
Here he shares with us his recipe for a perfect mushroom risotto.
WILD MUSHROOM RISOTTO WITH PARMA HAM
250g-risotto rice
800ml Chicken Stock
500g Button mushrooms sliced
200g roughly chopped shallots
3 cloves garlic bashed
8g thyme leaf
3 bay leaves
400g Mixed wild mushrooms cepe ,trompette ,girolles. ect
100g butter
200ml Vegetable oil
100ml olive oil
2g Salt
12 turns of milled pepper
50g grated Parmesan
150g banana shallots peeled and diced finely
4 cloves garlic finely chopped
250ml white wine
80g crème fraiche
2g salt
12g chopped chervil
4 Slices of ripped Parma Ham
Saute all the button mushrooms in a large hot sauté pan with the veg oil and butter, add 2g of salt and 12 turns of milled pepper, cook till nicely coloured and caramelised for about 5 mins, add the shallots, bay and thyme, cook for a further 5-8 minutes till soft and coloured. Add the chicken stock, bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes, leave to cool covered with cling film over the top. Once this has cooled then you can pass this off and use this stock for the risotto.
Have the other mushrooms already cooked off in a little butter and seasoning so you can add them at the end. Sweat off the shallots, garlic, salt, pepper on a low heat in the olive oil with no colour, add the rice and cook for 2 minutes stirring all the time, so they soak up the excess oil. Place in the white wine and cook till absorbed it will take a minute or so stir till its absorbed. Slowly add the mushroom stock to the rice little by little stirring every minute or so, this will take around 14-16 minutes till the rice is almost cooked. At the end add the sautéd wild mushrooms, once it is almost cooked add the crème fraiche Parmesan, chervil and re-season then leave to rest for a minute serve into bowl, then lay on the ham.