Porcini and Mushroom Risotto

Ingredients: (serves about 4 paxs)

30g (or simply half a bowl) dried porcini mushrooms
1 onion - minced
2 garlic cloves - pressed
1 tbsp olive oil
80g butter
1.2 L chicken stock **
350g risotto rice (preferrably Carnaroli and you are able to get Aged Risotto, even better!)
100ml dry white wine
50g freshly grated Parmesan cheese
250g fresh mushrooms of your choice
salt and pepper

** For Vegetarian version, replace with vegetable stock

How to make:

1. Rinse dried porcini mushrooms, then soak them in a bowl of hot water for at least 20 min until soft.

2. Drain the porcini mushrooms using a fine seive (so that the gritty part of the mushroom water is filtered out) and save the mushroom water for later use.

3. Squeeze water out of the softened porcini mushrooms and finely chopped them.

4. Bowl the chicken stock + the mushroom water in a pot, then turn down the heat to simmering point.

5. Heat olive oil and 50g of butter in another frying pan and stir fried the minced onion and pressed garlic until soft. Then add the finely chopped porcini mushrooms, then add the rice.

6. Stir fried all ingredients until the rice are all covered with the oil and butter and starting to turn a little translucent.

7. Pour in the white wine and let it evaporate for a while (it will happen fairly quickly).

8. Add the simmering chicken stock - ladle by ladle into the rice and stir until the rice has absorbed it. At this point, yo should turn down heat for the frying pan cooking the rice to medium fire, otherwise, the chicken stock you add to the rice will be gone very quickly.

9. Continue to add the stock ladle by ladle and don't drown the rice, and keep stirring all the time until the rice becomes plump and al dente! In my experience, this process takes approx 20 min! So, be patient!

10. Once the rice becomes al dente, add the remaining 30g butter and the freshly grated Parmesan cheese and season with salt and pepper. Then switch off heat and cover the pan the let the rice rests for 5 min.

11. In the meantime, stir fried the fresh mushrooms in either olive oil (which is healthier) or butter (which is more tasty and fragrant) which are already cleaned and chopped to the shape and size you desired in a separate pan.

12. Add the mushrooms to the top of the rice and serve!

* have the Parmesan cheese ready at the table so that whoever wants a more cheesy taste, they can just grate some more on top of the rice!

Enjoy this with a glass of chilled white wine and no more worries about the trouble of the day! hahaha!