It must of been the year 1999 that I had Risotto for the first time. I went to an Italian restaurant in our city and I saw Risotto on the menu, the rice spirit shouted at me to order it and I was hooked. I was skeptical at first, as a Thai person, I have eaten a lot of rice in my life time. If you ask me what my strength is, it’s that I know rice and Jasmine rice is my specialty. I know good rice from bad rice and I can tell when it is undercooked, overcooked, if the rice was old, etc. Then, I entered the world of this short fat grain of Arborio Rice, and I’ve loved it. Then I started making it while pretending that I was half Italian or something. ha ha
The true test of patience is to make Risotto. It may sound intimidating at first, but all you have to do is to take time and cook it slowly. Adding the liquid to the rice 1-2 ladles at a time, stir and let it cooked slowly until the rice is fully cooked and creamy. It’s totally worth it, especially when you have a glass of wine (or two) while stirring patiently in front of the stove.
I found this recipe from Ina Garten’s cookbook and I have made it many times, never fail. I like using dried and fresh mushrooms. You can use any kind of wild dried mushrooms, like dried morel or shiitake. For fresh mushrooms, try cremini or porchini. I wouldn’t use white button though, they’re too bland for this dish. Another good reason to make this Wild Mushroom Risotto is there’s pancetta in it! Everything tastes good with pancetta, seriously. You can also add a little bit of truffle on top to make it even better. This was recommended by my Italian friend, Massimo, who is a really good cook. I did not have truffle on hand but I have truffle oil
The other special ingredient is saffron, the queen of all spices. It is the dried yellow stigmas from a small purple crocus flower. Each flower provides only three stigmas, which must be carefully hand-picked and then dried, an extremely labor-intensive process. It takes 225,000 stigmas to make one pound of saffron, making saffron the most expensive spice in the world.
I was lucky to be able to travel to Dubai last month to visit my sister’s family. I was so happy that I got some really good saffron from the market in Dubai. Here is a picture of all sorts and most colorful spices in the market in Dubai. Aren’t they just beautiful?
There’s another recipe if you like saffron. Follow this link, Chicken and Saffron Rice.
Anyways… Let’s cook some food!
Place the dried mushrooms (morel or shiitake) in a bowl and pour 2 cups of hot water over them. Set aside for 10-30 minutes, depending on how big they are.
Once they are soft, scoop the mushrooms out of the water. If they are large, cut them into smaller pieces. Set aside.
Reserve and drain the liquid through a coffee filter or paper towel, discard the gritty solids.
Meanwhile, remove the stems of the fresh mushrooms (I used crimini). Clean them with damp paper towel. Do not rinse them, they will act like sponges and absorb all the water. Yuck! Slice thickly. Set aside.
In a small pot, heat the chicken stock with the 2 cups of reserved mushroom liquid and bring it to simmer.
In a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch Oven
Add the mushrooms and cook for a few minutes.
Add the rice and stir.
Add the wine and cook for another 2 minutes.
Add 2 full ladles of the chicken stock to the rice.
Add the saffron, salt and pepper.
Stir and simmer over low heat until the liquid is absorbed, 5-10 minutes.
Continue to add the stock, 2 ladles at a time, stirring every few minutes.
Before adding more liquid, cook until the rice mixture seems a little dry.
Continue until the rice is cooked through (about 30-35 minutes total).
When done, the Wild Mushroom Risotto should be thick and creamy and not dry.
Off the heat, stir in fresh grated Parmesan cheese.
Serve hot with extra cheese and a little bit of truffle or truffle oil
I hope you give this Wild Mushroom Risotto a try. It is a must! The recipe card is below.
- 1 oz. dried wild mushroom like morel or shiitake
- ½ lb. fresh porcini or cremini mushrooms
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
- 2 oz. pancetta, diced
- ½ cup chopped shallots (3 shallots)
- 1½ cups Arborio rice
- ½ cup dry white wine
- ½ teaspoon saffron threads
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- ⅔ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving
- A little bit of truffle or truffle oil (optional)
- Place the dried mushrooms (morel or shiitake) in a bowl and pour 2 cups of hot water over them. Set aside for 10-30 minutes, depends on how big they are. Once they are soft, scoop the mushrooms out of the water. If they are large, cut them into smaller pieces. Set aside.
- Reserve and drain the liquid through a coffee filter or paper towel, discard the gritty solids.
- Meanwhile, remove the stems of the fresh mushrooms. Clean them with damp paper towel. Do not rinse them. Slice thickly. Set aside.
- In a small pot, heat the chicken stock with the 2 cups of reserved mushroom liquid and bring it to simmer.
- In a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch Oven, melt the butter and saute the pancetta and shallots over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes.
- Add the mushrooms and cook for a few minutes. Add the rice and stir.
- Add the wine and cook for another 2 minutes. Add 2 full ladles of the chicken stock to the rice. Add the saffron, salt and pepper.
- Stir and simmer over low heat until the liquid is absorbed, 5-10 minutes. Continue to add the stock 2 ladles at a time, stirring every few minutes. Each time cook until the rice mixture seems a little dry before adding more of the liquid. Continue until the rice is cooked through (about 30-35 minutes total). When done, the risotto should be thick and creamy and not dry.
- Off the heat, stir in fresh grated Parmesan cheese. Serve hot with extra cheese and a little bit of truffle or truffle oil on top.
Oh my goodness, this looks SO GOOD! I’m going to a party in a couple weeks and I may prepare this for the party. Yum!
Yeah! Let me know how it goes, Gina. I hope you like it. 🙂