Ingredients | 2 servings

• 200g/7oz Risotto Rice (Carnaroli or Arborio)
• 200g / 7oz fresh (or frozen) Asparagus
• 1/2 glass of White Wine
• 40g/1.4oz Ground Parmesan Cheese
• Vegetable or Meat Broth
• Half Onion
• 2 knobs of Butter
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Preparation

Wash the asparagus and cut their woody bottoms for the broth.

– Making broth: Stir fry chopped onions, celery and carrot. Add the asparagus stems mix add 4 cups of water and simmer for 20 mins. The broth is ready for risotto.

– Save up to 4-5 asparagus tips and cut the rest into small pieces.

– Stir fry the tips in olive oil with a bit of salt. They will be used for the dish decoration.

Cooking Risotto:

– Sauté half of the grated onion with a knob of butter, salt, and pepper.

– Add the asparagus and stir.

– Add rice.

– Sauté for ⏳ 4-5 minutes on medium heat. So the rice toasted and the heat of the pan goes up.

– Pour wine to give the ingredients a thermic shock. This helps the rice to release more starch.

– Stir until the wine evaporates.

– Pour 2-3 ladle of broth (which is simmering beside the pan).

– Continue to stir so the broth is absorbed.

– Add another ladle of broth.

– Repeat this, for ⏳ 14-15 minutes to cook the rice. At this point, you’ll probably have a good al dente risotto.

➡️ if you’re not a fan of al dente: continue to cook until the rice become softer.

– In the end, the risotto should be slightly runny (add a bit of broth/boiling water if it’s too dense).

– Turn off the heat and add 2 knobs of butter & cheese all at once.

– Mix them lively, some chefs even waving the rice in the pan to “mix” them (they believe this way, “more air” goes inside the risotto!).

Now you have a silky & creamy risotto ready to be served.

Notes

• If your broth is finished earlier, use boiling water to complete the cooking.
• Never use the industrial broth, chop some veggies and toast them with a bit of olive oil on high heat, add boiling water after 15 minutes of simmering it’s ready. No additives, no preservatives perfect for your health.

Serve with grated cheese and stir-fried asparagus’s tips on top. If you like it spicy, some drops of chilly oil (peperoncino oil) gives a nice kick to it too.

Buon appetito! ☺️

The post Risotto with Asparagus appeared first on Foodcraftz.

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! ☺️

The post Risotto with porcini mushrooms appeared first on Foodcraftz.