A creamy mushroom risotto with wild garlic and delicate sweetbreads.
For the risotto, heat the butter in a frying pan. Gently fry the shallots until softened. Add the rice and stir to coat in the butter and shallots. Cook until the rice is translucent.
Add the hot stock and thyme and cook for seven minutes. Spoon the risotto onto a baking tray and set aside to cool.
For the mushroom stock, heat the olive oil in a large heavy-based pan. Add the button mushrooms and fry until golden-brown.
Add the dried ceps, mushroom bouillon and stock. Bring to the boil, and continue to cook over a high heat until the volume of liquid has reduced by half. Strain the mushrooms, set aside and return the liquid to the pan. Continue to cook over a high heat until the volume of liquid has reduced by half again. Remove from the heat and reserve for later.
For the morels, trim the white rim around the base of the morels, then soak in warm water to remove any sand that may be inside the mushrooms. Drain.
Heat a little olive oil a pan set over high heat, and fry the morels with the minced shallot until golden-brown. Deglaze the pan with the white wine and cover with a lid. Cook until the wine has evaporated, then add the chicken stock and cook with a lid on until the stock has evaporated and the mushrooms are glazed. Remove from the heat and reserve for later.
For the garnish, wash and spin dry all the wild garlic, then remove all the stems. Reserve 12 of the smallest leaves for the garnish, finely chop the rest and reserve for later.
For the sweetbreads, using a sharp knife remove the outer skin/membrane from the sweetbreads. Season with salt and pepper.
Heat a little oil and a knob of butter in a pan set over high heat. When the butter is foaming, add the sweetbreads and fry until golden-brown and crisp on the outside and the juices run clear (not milky) when a knife is inserted into the thickest part. Remove from the pan and reserve for later.
To finish the risotto, heat a large pan over a medium heat and add 400g/14oz of the cooked and chilled risotto rice. Pour in 360ml/12fl oz of the mushroom stock and cook until the rice is al dente, then remove from the heat and add the chopped wild garlic, mascarpone, grated parmesan and the diced cold butter. Keep stirring until all the ingredients are combined and hot.
Add a few drops of cabernet sauvignon vinegar and season to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon the risotto into four serving bowls and garnish with the sweetbreads, morels, parmesan shavings, rocket and raw wild garlic leaves. Drizzle any juice left in the morel pan over the risotto as this is packed with flavour.
