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Off the Menu: Wild mushroom risotto at The Beverly Hilton  

Learn how to prepare a red carpet-worthy wild mushroom risotto with a little help from Matthew Morgan, executive chef at The Beverly Hilton. | By Alison Cavatore | January 5, 2023

Roll out the red carpet! Award season is upon us. And what better way to celebrate than with a watch party featuring a decadent dish previously served to all your favorite A-listers at the Golden Globes?

While celebrities flock to the elegant ballroom at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. — host to the Globes for the past 40-plus years — you can impress your friends with your cooking skills as you create an award-worthy dining experience in the comfort of your home (black-tie optional, of course).

The star of the night? A wild mushroom risotto (served in its vegan form at the 2020 Globes) from executive chef Matthew Morgan.

Says Morgan, “My aunt is an excellent cook, and she would have our family over for gourmet meals. Around the age of 10, I started cooking with her and she taught me how to create these meals, starting with the shopping for the ingredients at the farmer’s market. The first dish I remember cooking was salmon with hollandaise sauce. I still make it on certain occasions today.”

These days, the occasions chef Morgan cooks for are star-studded affairs. No matter who’s on the guest list, however, his aunt’s influence is always in mind. Morgan makes sure every guest at The Beverly Hilton feels at home and tastes the love and attention he puts into each meal.

To ensure your guests experience those same feelings with this dish, chef Morgan stresses the importance of quality ingredients, a variety of mushrooms and attention to detail in the preparation.

Oh, and if you don’t have a giant wheel of Parmesan cheese at home — Morgan’s preferred way to infuse flavor and flair into preparing this risotto — not to worry. Simply grate some high-quality Parmesan cheese onto the dish for similar — and equally delicious — results.

Ingredients

— 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

— ½ large yellow onion, diced in small pieces

— 4 gloves garlic, minced

— 1 ½ pounds wild mushrooms (porcini, crimini, beech and maitake are preferred), large mushrooms sliced, small mushrooms quartered, remove stems

— 1 pound carnaroli or arborio rice

— 1 quart mushroom or vegetable stock (water can be substituted)

— ¾ cup white wine

— ½ tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped, no stems

— 1 tablespoon parsley, chopped

— Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

In a large saute pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat.

Add mushrooms to the olive oil and saute for 4 to 5 minutes.

Deglaze with ¼ cup white wine and cook for 1 to 2 minutes more. Transfer mushrooms to a bowl and set aside.

In a saucepan, bring the stock to a simmer and keep hot.

In a separate saute pan, heat the remaining olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and sweat them for 4 to 5 minutes until tender but not brown.

Add the arborio rice and minced garlic and stir consistently for 1 to 2 minutes until rice is lightly toasted. Deglaze the pan with the remaining white wine. Once the alcohol has cooked off, add the hot stock one ladle at a time.

Constantly stir the rice and continue to add the stock as it gets absorbed. Cook rice until tender, but still has a bite to it.

Add the fresh thyme.

Continue to slowly add stock and then add the mushrooms to the pan and mix into the rice.

Fold in the chopped parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Note: Freshly grated parmesan cheese can be added at the end of the cooking process to make the risotto richer (but not if preparing this dish as a vegan option).

Plate and garnish with a sprig of thyme and sprinkle of parsley.

Enjoy!

(Recipe from Matthew Morgan, executive chef at The Beverly Hilton, 2022.)

Alison Cavatore is the assistant editor for the content marketing team at Hilton. She has written and copyedited for numerous print and digital publications in the U.S. and abroad. Born in Pittsburgh, PA, Alison has lived in Miami, Scottsdale, Holland, France, Switzerland and Canada. She currently resides in the Washington, D.C. area.

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