Risotto with Porcini Mushrooms

One of the most famous Italian dishes is risotto. It is made from rice using a special technology, and for this reason it has a unique taste. Properly cooked risotto will be tasty by itself, even if there is neither meat, nor seafood, nor mushrooms in it. However, risotto with porcini mushrooms has a much more seductive aroma, and its taste is more interesting and rich.

Cooking Features

Mushrooms give any dish an amazing aroma and have excellent organoleptic qualities. With them, almost any dish becomes twice as tasty and appetizing. But even boletus mushrooms will not save the situation if they do not know the basic rules for making risotto.

It’s not the best idea to use the cheapest rice or any food in the house for risotto. The fact is that for this dish, varieties with high starch content are needed. In the homeland of risotto, varieties such as arborio, carnaroli, and vialone nano are used for this. Arborio can be purchased in our country, as this variety of rice is imported to Russia. However, such rice is not sold in all stores, and it is quite expensive. It can be replaced with ordinary Krasnodar round grain rice, which also contains a lot of starch.
Risotto rice should never be washed. Otherwise, you will remove the starch from the surface of the grains and they will break up during the preparation, lose an attractive appearance.
At the first stage, rice must be fried: this is also one of the necessary requirements. Fry it in cream or olive oil until a characteristic crackle. As a result, rice is covered with a crust that holds the starch inside the grains.
At the second stage, white dry wine is most often added. It not only gives the dish a barely noticeable pleasant sourness, but also smooths the starch flavor. This ingredient is optional, but if it is listed in a recipe, it is worth using.
The next stage can be called the main one: broth is added to rice in parts and stirred until the liquid is completely absorbed. It is very important not to pour all the broth at once and to introduce a new batch only after the previous one is fully absorbed.
To add a higher viscosity risotto and creamy taste, you can add grated cheese, butter, cream at the end of cooking. This is usually done 2 minutes before being removed from the stove.
When cooking risotto with mushrooms, it is best to use mushroom broth, and in its absence, just salted warm water.
Mushrooms for risotto are usually roasted separately, connecting them with rice at the last stage of cooking.
Cooking risotto is best in a deep cast-iron pan. In its absence, you can take any other frying pan with a thick bottom or even a cauldron. In extreme cases, you can use the slow cooker.

There are several recipes for risotto with porcini mushrooms. The technology of its preparation may vary slightly depending on the selected recipe and method of processing products.

Classic recipe for risotto with porcini mushrooms

Composition:

rice - 0, 2 kg;
dry white wine - 0, 2 l;
white mushrooms - 0, 3 kg;
mushroom broth - 0, 5 l;
onions - 100 g;
garlic - 2 cloves;
butter - 50 g;
olive oil - 50 ml;
fresh parsley - 20 g;
Parmesan cheese - 50 g;
salt, pepper - to taste.

Method of preparation:

Wash and dry the mushrooms, cut into small cubes.
Cut the garlic into thin slices.
Free the onions from the husk and chop them with a knife.
Cheese finely grate.
Chop parsley finely with a knife.
Pour the olive oil into the pan, heat it.
Put garlic in oil, fry it for 2-3 minutes and remove from oil.
Put the mushrooms in the pan and fry them until the excess moisture released from the mushrooms evaporates from the pan.
Add the onions and continue frying the mushrooms, stirring for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
In a clean skillet, melt the butter. Put rice in it and fry it for 5 minutes.
Pour white wine into the rice and cook it, stirring, until the alcohol has completely evaporated.
Add 100 ml of mushroom broth. Stir the rice, without removing the pan from the stove, until all the broth is absorbed into it. So gradually add the remaining broth to the rice, each time waiting for it to be completely absorbed.
With the last portion of broth, add mushrooms to the rice, salt and pepper the dish to taste.
When the last broth is absorbed in the risotto, add the grated cheese and greens into it, immediately mix well and remove from the heat.

Risotto is allowed to stand for a few minutes to dissolve the cheese in it, after which it is laid out on plates and served to the table. Eating risotto with porcini must be hot.

Risotto with porcini mushrooms in a slow cooker

Composition:

white mushrooms - 0, 2 kg;
rice - 0, 2 kg;
cream - 100 ml;
Parmesan cheese - 100 g;
onions - 100 g;
garlic - 3 cloves;
butter - 40 g;
olive oil - 40 ml;
water - 0, 5 l;
greens - to taste;
salt, pepper - to taste.

Method of preparation:

Wash mushrooms, pat dry with kitchen towel and cut into small pieces.
Peel the onions from the peel and cut it into small cubes.
Garlic cloves very finely chopped with a knife.
Chop grated cheese with narrow holes.
Pour olive oil into the bowl of the multicooker and place a piece of cream. Start the unit by selecting the program “Frying” or “Baking”. Set the timer for half an hour.
After 2-3 minutes after starting the device, put onion and garlic in butter. Cook them for 4-5 minutes.
Add the mushrooms and cook them for 15 minutes. Periodically they need to be mixed so as not to burn.
Add rice and fry it, stirring, until the program ends.
After the beep, add salt, spices and water to the slow cooker. Turn on the unit for half an hour by selecting the program “Pilaf” or similar to it (“Rice”, “Kasha”).
25 minutes after the start of cooking on the “Pilaf” program, add cream to the multicooker bowl, stir and cook risotto until the end of the program.
Add cheese and finely chopped greens, mix. Leave for 10-15 minutes in heating mode.