Cooking Italy; Risotto with porcini (well… not really)
Mushroom risotto
Ok, I am so terribly behind on the Cooking Italy schedule that it’s kind of a miracle that I made the risotto that is scheduled for december 14th ahead of schedule… 
But then again; I didn’t exactly follow the recipe that Marcella gave, so not sure if this counts as having finished the recipe.. lol… I was planning on using porcini, as I really do like porcini, but for some reason my supermarket was out of the porcini and I had set my mind on making risotto, after first thinking I was going to make Olga’s pasta (which I will be making soon!) and then thinking to follow Lisa’s suggestion of another pasta to in the end decide to make risotto… So far for making up your mind before going to the store!!
Not being able to use the porcini I settled for using another dried mushroom which they did have in the store and that was cantharelles. It wasn’t very long ago that I tried my first cantharelle fresh and so I had never tried the dried version before and can’t say that I liked it either. My guess is that the mushrooms were rather old; they even smelled ‘dusty’!! I had them soaked in hot water for 15 minutes and then they had to be cooked for 10 minutes. Cantharelles are known to be difficult to clean and these ones were even harder to clean judging by the mouthful of sand Tom had to swallow later on.. Oops.. I did rinse them when still dry and cleaned them again once cooked. I did not use the soaking liquid which I do like to do when using porcini, but it just didn’t smell very good, so I skipped that part.
Instead of sticking to the ingredients in the recipe I added some peas in for color and taste. Plus I added fresh chestnut mushrooms as well. Which was a good thing after all since the dried ones where not that tasty. For the broth I used forest mushroom cubes as I had tried that before with risotto and really liked the mushroomy flavor that comes out of them. They are only around at this time of year, as it’s not a common flavor for making stock.
I do make risotto very often and this was not the best of them due to the – not so tasty – chantarelles, but it was still a decent meal. As was Tom’s remark when taking a second helping; ‘ for a vegetarian meal it’s quite tasty’.. I can see how this would work really well with porcini and I might even throw in a few crispy baked pancetta bits.
I hope to make another of Marcella’s dishes for tomorrow! I have been meaning to make the amatriciana pasta now for a while, but every time something was missing and now I seem to have all the ingredients!
Appetizer
Asian
Bread
Breakfast
Desserts & other sweets
Healthy
It looks like you had some fun in the process though, Simone! The risotto still looks mighty tasty!
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I am drooling!All those mushroom and peas and all those wonderful flavors
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This really looks good and nice presentation too.
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It looks super delicious to me!
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I agree with the other comments. It still looks tasty but I don’t think there’s anything you can’t make look tasty with your photography magic
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It happens to the best of us, just don’t give up trying…. Looks good though!!
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I love the idea of peas in this, and I LOVE THAT BOWL. Too bad about the chanterelles–porcini are so much nicer, I think. What I like here is that you went with the ingredients you had. For me, that’s the spirit of Italian cooking. I think this one should count!
Gorgeous photo.
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Simone (junglefrog) — December 8th, 2009 at 09:03
It’s on of the things I bought in Spain!! I love the bowls they have there and it costs virtually nothing… Needless to say I bought a whole stack…
And you’re right that porcini is soooo much nicer then the chanterelles!
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Welcome back Simone – we missed you! Glad to see your cooking Italy posts – too bad about the risotto (I am not vegetarian hehe) but it still looks beautiful!
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Good to see you back. Dish still looks fantastic; it’s good to try to improvise. Isn’t that the best way to learn? I’m getting hungry for the risotto now.
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It looks quite fabulous even,…
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM,…Yum Yum Yum!
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You are way ahead of me as I have never made risotto and am so looking forward to it, especially if it looks anything like yours! Wow that looks good…great job.
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Welcome back! Sorry the chanterelles were disappointing – indeed, I bet this would taste great with porcini! I haven’t made risotto in a really long time (I’ve been making a lot of Asian rice dishes), and I think I should do something about it soon!
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I completely understand about the chanterelles…they can be tricky to use. I’m half sweating this one…I have everything, but I’m not sure about the consistency at the end with the risotto. I guess I’ll figure it out when I get there! LOL! Thanks for the heads up about the mushroom broth cubes…I’ve seen some and wondered… Your dish looks lovely regardless though!
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It still looks beautiful! I like the idea of adding peas, adds a nice colour.
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I am so craving some mushrooms now.. something nice,warm and earthy as the temperature plunged .. This would be so perfect!
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Risotto with mushrooms are one of my favourite ways to prep risotto. Crack a bottle of wine open, sip and stir!
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