It is a popular dish especially in North Italy during autumn when the fresh Funghi porcini (porcini mushrooms) comes in local markets.
There are different Italian delicacies with porcini, like tagliatelle (pasta) or tagliata (grilled meat cut in strips) with porcini, and frittata with eggs but “risotto ai porcini” is a classic vegetarian dish that most of the times you’ll see in restaurant’s menus during autumn.
Ingredients | 2 servings
- 200/7oz Carnaroli or Arborio rice
- 220g Frozen Porcini Mushrooms
- 800ml Meat or vegetable Broth
- Half Onion
- 2 knobs of Butter
- 2 cloves of Garlic
- 1/2 glass of White Wine
- 40g/1.4oz Ground Parmesan Cheese
- a stem of Rosemary and handful of Chopped Parsley
- Extra virgin Olive Oil
Preparation
– Chop porcini mushrooms into small piece (I had frozen mushrooms).
– Sauté the garlic, rosemary, and black pepper in olive oil.
– Add the porcini mushrooms and salt, stir fry till they lose water and become creamy and soft.
Risotto:
– Sauté the grated onion with butter and salt in a hot pan for some seconds.
– Add rice and toast it. (stir in the hot pan, till they become slightly translucent)
– Pour in the white wine, this gives a thermal shock to risotto so it releases more starch and also wine gives a nice acidic taste to the dish.
– Continue to stir so the wine evaporates and rice becomes slightly dry.
– Pour 2-3 ladles of warm broth.
– Continue to stir until all of it is absorbed.
– Add the the cooked porcini mushrooms to risotto but save 2-3 tbsp of it for decoration later.
– Pour another 2-3 ladles of broth and mix.
➡️ The risotto will be al dente in between 14-17 mins (check the instruction on the package).
If you’re not a fan of al dente: add more broth and continue to cook till the rice becomes softer.
➡️ In case your broth finishes earlier, use boiling water.
– Turn off the heat, the risotto’s consistency should be a bit runny and not dense! (pour a bit of boiling water if it’s not) we need moisture to make the risotto creamy.
– Add 1 big COLD knob of butter and ground parmesan cheese all at once.
– Mix them lively, some chefs even waving the rice in pan (they believe this way, “more air” goes in the risotto!)
– The result should be a silky & creamy risotto.
Serve the risotto with porcini mushrooms on top (that we’ve put aside earlier) and finely chopped parsley.
Notes
- In case you don’t have fresh porcini, the dry ones are easier to find in Italian food markets
- It’s popular to add also salsiccia (Italian sausage) to the risotto – add it when you are toasting the rice in the beginning of cooking
- Some people don’t like the strong scent of porcini, half of the mushrooms could be champignon for a more delicate taste.
Buon appetito! ☺️