Rice With Mushrooms (Arroz con Champiñones)

Recipe from Jonah Miller and Nate Adler

Adapted by Florence Fabricant

Rice With Mushrooms (Arroz con Champiñones)
David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Total Time
45 minutes
Rating
5(135)
Notes
Read community notes

This recipe — adapted from “The New Spanish: Bites, Feasts and Drinks” by Jonah Miller and Nate Adler, the owners of Huertas in the East Village in New York — offers the cook a simple primer on paella. The method is a template best made in a paella pan and, as a bonus, it will free the cook from the notion that paella must be some kind of production number involving a budget-busting and time-consuming load of chicken, pork, seafood, vegetables and the like. This version features mushrooms and not much else. But its largely unadorned canvas will accept embellishments. Some tomato purée in the broth perhaps? Certainly. Seared sea scallops, shrimp, some sausage, pieces of duck confit, chickpeas, grilled peppers, eggplant chunks or baby artichokes? Those, too, but definitely not all at once. —Florence Fabricant

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • 4cups mushroom or vegetable stock
  • ½pound cremini mushrooms, brushed clean, stems removed and reserved, caps chopped in ½-inch pieces, preferably by hand
  • Salt
  • 2cloves garlic
  • ⅓cup mayonnaise, store-bought or homemade
  • 2teaspoons lemon juice
  • 3tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1cup finely chopped onion
  • 1cup finely chopped fennel bulb
  • 1teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
  • 1cup Spanish short-grain rice (Bomba or Calasparra), or Arborio rice
  • ½cup dry sherry or white wine
  • ½cup jarred pickled mushrooms or 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
  • 1tablespoon minced chives
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

472 calories; 25 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 11 grams monounsaturated fat; 10 grams polyunsaturated fat; 49 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 4 grams sugars; 6 grams protein; 1137 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Place the stock in a small saucepan, add the mushroom stems and bring to a simmer. Season to taste with salt. Cook on low for 15 minutes. Grate 1 clove of the garlic and mix with the mayonnaise, lemon juice, 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and salt to taste. Set aside.

  2. Step 2

    Heat 1 tablespoon oil on medium in a 10-inch paella pan or skillet. Add onion, fennel and remaining garlic clove, minced fine. Cook, stirring, about 10 minutes, until vegetables are soft and barely starting to color. Add remaining oil and the mushroom caps, increase heat to medium-high and cook 3 to 5 minutes, stirring on and off, until mushrooms have wilted, start to brown and have released some liquid. Season with salt and add thyme.

  3. Step 3

    Add the rice to the pan. Stir for about 1 minute with a wooden spoon. Add the sherry or wine and let reduce until most of it has been absorbed. Use the back of the spoon to spread the rice evenly in the pan. Remove and discard the stems from the stock. Gently add 2 cups of the stock to the pan, taking care not to disturb the rice. Bring to a simmer and cook about 5 minutes on medium-low, until the liquid is absorbed. Add more liquid, in ½ cup increments, without stirring the rice until the stock is absorbed after each addition. When the rice is nearly tender let it cook another 5 minutes or so, until there does not appear to be any liquid in the pan.

  4. Step 4

    Remove the pan from the heat and let rest for 2 to 3 minutes. Scatter pickled mushrooms on top or drizzle on the vinegar. Strew with chives. Dollop the mayonnaise sauce on top, and serve rice directly from the pan.

Ratings

5 out of 5
135 user ratings
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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

Thom

This is very good! And easy! Used stems from beech mushrooms for the stock. Used king trumpets and the beech caps for the rice (Bomba). While adding the stock to the rice, I added the beech stems, too. Just couldn't bring myself to discard perfectly good mushroom bits. From start to finish, took about 1 1/2 hours (twice as long as suggested).

Martha

Used 2 tsp dried fennel instead of fresh fennel and sherry vinegar instead of pickled mushrooms. It was delicious.

Jocelyn

Agreed with 2 other chefs here, the sauce to top should no be skipped, and the cooking time was much longer than suggested. Added chopped fennel fronds to the sauce which added a little something extra

Jack

Amazing rice. (Couldn't find Bomba or Arborio so I used Egyptian short grained) Didn't have fresh fennel so used seeds. Oregano instead of thyme (because that's what I had) – and more of it, including mixed with the chives (and I added lemon zest as well). Served with shrimp and squid on top. Skipped the mayo – but the vinegar was a great touch. Did through Step 2 ahead, so only half an hour in the kitchen after I got home. Wondering if I could do all but the last 5 minutes for company.

carolyn

Used champagne and had to add a lot more water to cook the brown rice - very tasty

Mayo Unnecessary

The dish would have been perfect without adding the mayo.

Philip

As a rice dish it’s not bad, another way to use mushrooms, one needs to concentrate on producing a socarrat, the crispy rice most prized in paella, and this meant that the pan is important.

Michelle

Used shiitakes and shiitake stock. So yum. I also added chicken thighs at the end (as you would with paella) to make it a complete meal.

senorfuzz

Made this egg free with vegan Mayo and it was perfect! One of the best recipes I’ve tried so far (I’m a year in and 45 recipes cooked).

Erika

i used baby bella mushrooms, didnt remove the stems, 2 leftover stock concentrate packets, fennel seeds rather than fresh fennel, white vinegar instead of sherry, and CILANTRO rather than thyme. no chives/ it was STILL unbelieveably delicious

G Boltman

I basically fused this with Alison Roman's recipe for farro with crispy mushrooms and it was fantastic! I used Greek yogurt at the end instead of mayo though, because it's a little sharper.

Kathy

For the sauce I used a little mayo and then mostly yogurt. Added several tablespoons of a delicious condiment called Mojo Picon which has almonds and harissa mixed with olive oil. Wow! Highly recommend!

Meljorino

I’m not really getting what the big deal is, but I did it. It’s fine, but nothing to write home about. Smells great!

With short Grain brown rice

Needed closer to 6 cups of broth to cook the rice.

Carla

Like another cook, I used 2 tsp of fennel seed instead of fresh fennel. I also had a bunch of arugula that I added after the mushrooms and before the rice. To balance out the rice-to-other stuff ratio, I used 1.5 cups of rice and an about an extra cup of stock. Really tasty.

Tim M

It's a great dish, thank you FF! The mayo topping should not be skipped.

quaasam

Excellent and easy. Did it with arborio rice because I had it in the pantry. Served with the mayo sauce. Divine!!!!

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Credits

Adapted from “The New Spanish: Bites, Feasts and Drinks” by Jonah Miller and Nate Adler (Kyle Books, 2018)

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