This amazing risotto is made with the king of mushrooms and it’s a classic fall first course: let’s cook with Sonia the risotto with porcini mushrooms!
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Mmmh what an amazing porcini risotto, it’s made with the king of mushrooms and it’s probably the most classic fall first course. It smells really good, but let’s see together what ingredients we’ll need to make it:
• about 2 pints (1 lt) of vegetable broth
• 1 small golden onion
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 ¾ cups (320 g) of Carnaroli (or Arborio) rice
• ½ cup (50 g) of grated parmesan cheese • ½ stick (60 g) of butter
• 2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
• 14 oz (400 g) of fresh porcini mushrooms
• 1 bunch of chopped parsley
• salt / pepper
Let’s prepare the risotto with porcini mushrooms:
When buying the porcini mushrooms, look out for 2 things: first, check for holes in the stems, since there may be worms inside; second, turn the mushroom over to see if the sponge under the cap is white in colour, if it’s green or brown, it means that it’s already too old. As for cleaning, first of all scrape away any dirt with a knife. Remember never to soak mushrooms, or they will lose their fragrance and become watery… so it’s better not to do that; on the contrary, you can wash quickly under cold running water and pat them dry.
When cleaning or cutting the mushrooms, you may find brown spots like this, which of course must be removed; with regard to the stems, you may find these tunnels, which are actually worm tunnels, so you’d better discard these parts. Besides, since we’re talking of a valuable mushroom, it would be nice to preserve its shape; since the porcino mushroom is perhaps the only one which doesn’t turn brown after cutting, we can cut into ½ inch thick slices, to keep from breaking while cooking, and serve the risotto with the mushrooms still in shape.
Now, move on to cooking: put the oil and the crushed garlic in a pan; sauté the garlic on a low flame for a couple of minutes, but without browning, then add the porcini mushrooms. At this point, you can raise the heat, since the mushrooms must cook on a high flame, never on a low flame, so they stay crispy; cook for 10 minutes, 15 at the most, adding salt and pepper at half cooking time. When the mushrooms are cooked, add the chopped parsley. You can use some vegetable broth, if needed.
And what if there are no fresh mushrooms? Of course you can use the dried ones! The ratio for the dried mushrooms is about 1/3 or 1/2 oz (10-15 g) to 3,5 oz (100 g) of fresh mushrooms; they must be soaked, or lightly boiled, in hot water and, of course, you can use the soaking water, that is very tasty, to cook the rice. Just remember to strain it first, since there may be some grit on the bottom.
The mushrooms are ready, remove from the heat and keep aside. In a non-stick pan, melt 2/3 of the butter, since we’ll use the last third to cream the risotto at the end. Now add the chopped onion… and sauté on a very low flame until soft, for at least 10-15 minutes: it should cook without browning.
Now it’s time to add the rice… let it toast for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly… then finish cooking, adding the vegetable broth one ladle at a time.
5 minutes before the rice finishes cooking, add the porcini mushrooms. Blend well.
The risotto is ready, now cream with the remaining butter… and the grated parmesan cheese, according to your guests’ taste; on the contrary, put the cheese on the table and let your guests help themselves.
The dish is ready… mmmh delicious… see you next video recipe!