Buckwheat groats – and Eastern European staple known as grechka or kasha – are criminally underutilised in cooking outside of the region.

And this is really a shame as the nutty grain is so versatile – and delicious. Not only can you make a classic buckwheat kasha, but you can jazz it up and make things like buckwheat risotto!

Yes, it’s going to be a bit different from risotto made from short-grain, Italian rice, but it’s super delicious and simple to make!

How to Make Buckwheat Risotto

I don’t think there is any recipe I’ve developed that uses mushrooms where I don’t call for browning them first, and this recipe is no different. So the first step is to brown the mushrooms!

Add a pat of butter and some olive oil to a large saucepan and set it over medium heat. Once the butter has melted and the oil is shimmering, add some sliced mushrooms along with a generous pinch of salt.

The mushrooms will release a lot of moisture at first and decrease significantly in size. Keep cooking and stirring every so often until the moisture has evaporated and the mushrooms take on a deep golden colour – this will take about 10 minutes.

This is also a good time to add your chicken (or veggie) stock to a small saucepan and bring it to a simmer. You will need it later.

Once you’re at this stage, you can go ahead and add in some finely chopped shallots and a bit of minced garlic. Cook this just until softened – about 2 more minutes.

Now it’s time to add your buckwheat groats. Stir the buckwheat into the mushroom and shallot mixture to lightly toast the granules for a couple of minutes.

You’ll notice that this is no different to the step where I add the rice in something like my caramelised onion risotto.

Once you begin to get a distinct nutty aroma from the buckwheat, go ahead and add in some dry white wine. Cook, stirring constantly, until the alcoholic smell has gone and the wine is mostly absorbed – this will only take a couple of minutes.

Now’s the time to start with your hot stock additions. Ladle a bit of your hot stock into the buckwheat and, stirring constantly, wait until the stock has been mostly absorbed.

Repeat this step with another ladle-full of stock and continue stirring until it’s absorbed. Keep repeating the stock additions until the buckwheat is very tender and the consistency is viscous.

Once you reach this stage, remove the risotto from the heat and stir in a good amount of grated parmesan cheese. Taste to adjust for seasoning, adding in more salt and some black pepper if needed. Then, serve immediately!

Mushroom Buckwheat Risotto

Swapping buckwheat groats (kasha/grechka) for short grain rice, this spin on the Italian classic is unique, nutty and super delicious!

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Servings 2

Prep Time 5

Total Time 45

Ingredients

1 l (4 ¼ cups) chicken or vegetable stock
25 g (2 tbsp) unsalted butter
200 g (2 cups) mushrooms such as crimini, oyster or shitake, thinly sliced
2 medium shallots finely diced
2 cloves garlic minced
200 g (1 cup) buckwheat groats
120 ml (½ cup) dry white wine
75 g (¾ cup) parmesan cheese finely grated

Instructions

Add the chicken stock to a small saucepan, cover, set over medium-low heat and bring to a simmer. Meanwhile, add the butter and 1 tbsp of olive oil to a large saucepan and set over medium heat. Once the butter is melted, add the mushrooms and a generous pinch of salt. Cook, stirring, every so often, untilt the mushrooms are deeply golden brown – about 10 minutes.
Add the shallots and garlic to the pan. Cook until soft and translucent – only about 2 minutes. Add the buckwheat to the pan and, stirring constantly, toast the granules for another 2 minutes.
Pour over the wine and stir constantly until it is mostly absorbed and the strong alcoholic smell has cooked off – a minute or two.
Add a ladle-full (about 120ml or ½ cup) of the hot chicken stock to the buckwheat. Stir constantly until the buckwheat has mostly absorbed the stock and if a spoon is dragged along the bottom of the pan, the pan is exposed. Repeat with another ladle-full and continue stirring.
Continue with the additions of chicken stock until the buckwheat is tender and cooked through – about 20 minutes. Stir in the parmesan cheese. Taste to adjust for seasoning, adding salt and black pepper where needed. Serve immediately.