Improve Your Oatmeal By Treating It Like Risotto

I am a staunch savoury breakfast eater. Though I love sugar, starting my day with it leads to all sorts of issues, and I just never crave sweets upon waking. For this reason, I’ve always avoided oatmeal, a bland gruel that’s usually doctored with butter, sugar, and other toppings fit for a cookie.

Of course, like any grain-based porridge, oats can be savoury, but it’s not as simple as making instant oats and throwing some cheese on it. For the best savoury oatmeal, you need to treat it like risotto, making risoatto.

There are two basic building blocks for risoatto – steel cut oats (preferably Irish) and really flavourful stock or broth. Vegetables and other add-ins are up to you, but I’m particularly partial to mushrooms and corn at the moment. After the vegetables are sautéed in butter and the oats are toasted, then the stock is slowly stirred in, a quarter cup at a time, until you have a thick, savoury porridge. It’s not the quickest breakfast, but it is one of the more satisfying. To make two servings of it, you will need:

• 110g mushrooms (I like baby shiitakes)

• 2 tablespoons butter, divided

• 1/2 cup corn kernels

• 1 tablespoon soy sauce

• 1/2 teaspoon umami seasoning or shiitake mushroom powder (optional)

• 1 cup steel cut oats

• 2-3 cups of broth or stock

• Parmesan cheese

• Scallions or chives or whatever fresh herbs you desire

Melt one tablespoon of butter in a medium stock pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, add the mushrooms, and cook until they are crispy on the edges. Remove half of the mushrooms from the pot and set them aside. Add the corn, cook for a couple of minutes, then add the soy sauce, umami seasoning, and the second tablespoon of butter. Once the butter melts, give everything a stir, then add the oats and cook, stirring constantly, for about a minute.

Reduce the heat to medium, then add your first 1/4 cup of stock. Stir continuously until the liquid is absorbed, and repeat until the oats are cooked through and you’ve added at least two cups of stock (though it may take as much as three).

Ladle into bowls, top with the reserved mushrooms, and sprinkle on some parmesan, scallions, or fresh herbs. You could throw an egg on top, but risoatto is so filling on its own, there’s really no need. I wouldn’t fault you for adding crumbled bacon, however. Crumbled bacon is very good with corn.