Risotto ai Funghi (Mushroom Risotto)

Only if I could get my hands on some fresh porcini then I would have named this dish "Risotto ai Porcini" instead. Instead I resulted in using Sainsbury's British Speciality Mushrooms, which consist of shiitake, oyster mushroom, eryngii & maitake - well that's what was in my punnet and I believe they all vary slightly. 

However, instead of using bog-standard vegetable/ chicken stock cube I actually invested in some porcini stock cube from my local Italian grocery shop. Whenever I step into that shop its like a kid has gone into a sweet shop. I love to look at everything they have on the shelves, and regardless what I went in for, I always walk out with some truffle mortadella. I will have to dedicate a post on it soon... it is absolutely delectable! 

So let's get back to the risotto... True to most Italian cooking, I kept it very simple.

Serves 2

160g arborio rice

20g dried porcini, soak in hot water for 20 minutes before use

1 porcini stock cube (if you can't find them I would suggest soaking the dried porcini with some extra of water)

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, sliced

1 large glass of white wine

3 dollop of butter

200g of speciality mushrooms, cut into bit size

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

1. Soak the dried porcini mushroom in hotel water.

2. Finely chopped the onion; sliced the garlic cloves; dilute the stock cube with boiling water and cut the speciality mushrooms into bite size.

3. Place a frying pan on medium heat, add a dollop of butter, wait for it to melt and sizzle.

4. Add the garlic, cook until lightly brown before adding the speciality mushrooms. The idea is not to cook the mushroom thoroughly but to add some colour and garlic flavour to them. Also be careful they are not overcooked (become watery). Set them aside. 

5. Place a deep casserole dish (I used B size Le Creuset) over medium heat, add the other dollop of butter, wait for it to melt and sizzle then add in the onion. Cook until lightly brown before adding the arborio rice. Make sure the onion mixes well with the rice.

6. Pour in the white wine, stir the rice until the wine is evaporated. Add in the rehydrated porcini and the soaking water. Keep staring. 

7. When the water is nearly evaporated, gradually pour in the stock and keep staring. Add more stock when the rice is looking dry. Repeat this until the rice is cooked to al dente. 

8. When the rice is almost cooked, reheat the fresh mushrooms in the frying pan. Season with some salt & pepper. 

9. Add in a handful of grated Parmesan cheese to the rice and mix well.

10. Just before serving, add the last dollop of butter and mix well. This is to give the rice a bit of shine.

11. Serve up the rice and place the fresh mushrooms on top, then sprinkle with more Parmesan.