Porcini Mushrooms Risotto Rice

The original recipe is called Risotto ai funghi porcini!
This is a delicate dish with a beautiful smell. I like to cook it in fall as this is what it reminds me off. The fresh porcini mushrooms are not very easy to find, however, you can easily find them in their dry version and I guarantee it will be an easy good dish for you and your family. For a vegetarian version, you simply cook the rice using boiling water or vegetable stock instead of meat stock.

Risotto with Porcini Mushrooms

Ingredients (serves 4):

Risotto rice: 315gr / 1 cup and a half
Fresh Mushrooms: 200gr / 0.4lbs / 6-8 pieces
Dried Porcini Mushrooms: 30gr / 1 ounce
Onion: 1 small piece
Garlic: 1 clove
Parsley: 1 brunch
Butter: 2 slices / 50 gr/ less than 2 ounces
White Wine: 1dl /  half a cup
Vegetable/Meat Stock: about  1 l / 3-4 cups
Parmisan Cheese: 50gr/ 2 full spoons
Salt/ Pepper/ Olive Oil

Note: You can substitute the above mentioned Mushrooms with 400 gr (equivalent to 14 ounces / 0.8 lbs) of fresh Porcini Mushrooms. Also, Step 3 can be done in parallel with Step 1 and 2.

Step 1: Place the dried porcini mushrooms in a bowl of warm water for at least 10 minutes. Meantime, clean the fresh mushrooms by removing the dirt with a knife and washing very quickly (do not soak the fresh mushrooms in water). Then chop them finely.

Step 2: Place a slice of butter and the slightly pressed garlic in a frying pan, Add the fresh mushrooms and cook them using high heat. Remove the water from the dried porcini mushrooms (now they should be soft to the touch) and chop them finely. Mix them with the fresh mushrooms. Adjust salt and pepper, salt and add the parsley which you must first finely chop. If you decided to use 400 gr of fresh porcini mushrooms, you clean and cook them in the same way but, you do not need to add the dried porcini.

Step 3:  Finely chop the onion and brown it in a pan using some olive oil (you can use butter or a mixture of the two). Add the rice and toast it until golden. Proceed by adding the white wine and, when it evaporates, add one ladle of boiling stock at the time. Stir until it evaporates and repeat until the risotto is cooked.

Step 4: Mix the cooked mushrooms with the risotto some minutes before it has finished cooking. Mix well then turn off the heat and mix the remaining butter and the Parmesan cheese. Cover the rice for 10 minutes then serve.


You can find more details on how I prepare this risotto by watching this video:

If you try to make this recipe, I would love to know how it turns out!
Also, If you have any Italian recipe request let me know!

You can find some tips on how to clean the mushrooms here.