Flavorful, extra creamy and fragrant this Porcini mushroom risotto is one of the most genuine meals.
Porcini mushrooms are considered to be one of the most noble mushrooms. Their rich nutty and earthy flavor in combination with meaty and slightly creamy texture will give your mushroom risotto a flavor and aroma like no other.
Table Of Contents
Ingredients
- Rice – Carnaroli is the most classic, super versatile rice that works for any risotto. However to make the most delicious vegetable based risotto try using Vialone Nano rice. As an alternative you can use any of recommended risotto rice types.
- Porcini mushrooms - fresh, frozen or dried high quality porcini. See below for specific cooking instructions.
- Onion - small onion or shallot. When in season you can also use leek.
- Garlic - fresh garlic clove, either crushed with a flat knife (so you can remove it later) or chopped if you like stronger garlic taste.
- Butter - unsalted butter, divided part for sauteing mushrooms part for final stage of finishing risotto.
- White wine - dry white wine, a classic Italian risotto ingredients that pairs perfectly with mushrooms.
- Parsley - fresh or frozen parsley.
- Broth - homemade meat broth adds the most flavor, and you'll feel the difference if substitute with anything else. Having said that you can still use vegetable stock or water as the liquid for cooking risotto.
- Parmesan cheese - Parmigiano Reggiano or Grana Padano cheese for finishing risotto. You'll only need a handful so make sure yo use authentic Italian quality.
- Extra virgin olive oil (evoo) - I like to saute onion and mushrooms in the mix of butter and olive oil but feel free to use butter only or oil only.
- Salt, pepper to taste
How To Make - Step By Step
The first step in making Porcini Risotto is taking care of the mushrooms, which is easy but a little different depending on the type of mushrooms you choose (fresh, frozen or dried). The rest of the recipe is the same.
Prepare Porcini Mushrooms
- Fresh porcini: scrub the stem with a small knife removing any dirt. Rub the mushroom head with mushroom brush then wipe with lightly damp paper towel to remove any dirt. Slice or cut into cubes.
- Dried porcini: In a small bowl put dried porcini mushrooms and pour some cold water. Stir and drain the mushrooms immediately. This way we washed away any imperfections. Now steep porcini for 30-60 minutes in just enough water to cover them. Drain reserving the liquid which you’ll add to the broth.
- Frozen porcini: take them out from the freeze just as you start making risotto. Never thaw frozen mushrooms!
Toast Rice
- In a dry clean pot/pan add rice. Turn the heat on medium/medium low and toast the rice until it starts to release aroma. Pay attention, the rice should be hot to touch but NOT burned. The color should change very slightly. Set the rice aside.
Start Preparing Risotto
- In a large skillet pan or like mine cast iron sauteuse oven add a splash of extra virgin olive oil, ⅓ of all butter and garlic crushed with a flat knife.
TIP: for more intense garlic taste chop the garlic instead of using whole). Set on medium heat. - Wait until garlic starts to become fragrant (1-2 minutes). Add finely chopped onion. Cook for 2 minutes until onion starts to become translucent. Add porcini mushrooms.
PAY ATTENTION: If using frozen porcini, make sure to add them frozen. Frozen mushrooms should never be thawed before cooking otherwise they’ll loose all their texture.
- Simmer mushrooms for a few minutes. Frozen mushrooms until they’re completely separated. Help speed up the process breaking them up with a wooden spoon.
- Add chopped parsley and white wine. Simmer for 2 more minutes.
- Add rice. Mix everything until combined then start adding hot broth. One ladle at a time.
- Let simmer on low heat and add more broth as needed.
- Depending in the rice, risotto is usually ready in about 17-20 minutes. Like perfectly cooked pasta it should remain slightly “al dente”. A little bit toothy but not raw or grainy.
Finish risotto with butter & Parmesan
- Once risotto is ready turn the heat off.
- Add COLD butter and half of grated Parmesan cheese, reserving the rest for serving.
Possible Add-Ons
- Fresh sausage meat - casing removed. Crumble and in a pan with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Roast until slightly browned. Add finely chopped onion and proceed from here as per recipe instructions.
- Roasted butternut squash - add once rice is almost ready.
- Spinach - fresh of frozen baby spinach. Add close to the end of cooking once risotto is almost ready.
How To Store
It's best to make risotto and consume it fresh. If you happen to have any leftovers you can store them in airtight container in the fridge for 2 days.
Can you freeze Porcini Risotto?
No. No, unless you like mushy paste. Any kind of risotto will loose its texture if frozen.
How to tell low-quality dried porcini from high-quality porcini?
When purchasing a pack of dried porcini pay attention to the package. Choose clear package that you can see through.
The best Porcini Mushrooms package should have no dust and no or very little crumbled pieces. The more pieces in the package that still resemble mushroom shape the better.
Vivid fragrance is another sign of quality dried porcini that you should feel immediately after opening the package.
How much Fresh porcini vs Frozen porcini vs Dried porcini?
For 4 servings you'll need:
- 14 oz (400 g) frozen porcini mushrooms or
- 14-16 oz (400-450) fresh porcini if they need to be cleaned or same as frozen porcini if weighted after cleaning
- 1.5 oz (45 g) dried porcini
Fun Trivia
- Porcini Mushrooms literally translate as “piglet mushrooms” from Italian.
- Porcini have more protein than most other commonly consumed vegetables apart from soybeans.
- Even though you can find dried porcini for sale quite easily in almost any part of the world, it’s interesting that this kind of mushrooms is extremely difficult to cultivate. That’s why they can be easily called “wild mushrooms”.
- Porcini are usually dried, packaged and exported worldwide from their most common regions in Northern America, Nothern and Central Europe and Asia.
- Dried porcini are highly appreciated and widely used as they don’t loose their flavor and fragrance when dried.
More Recipes With Mushrooms
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Full Recipe
Porcini Mushroom Risotto (Using fresh, frozen or dried porcini)
Try this extra creamy Porcini mushroom risotto and you'll fall in love with the first spoon. Make it easily with fresh, frozen or dried porcini mushrooms.
SERVINGS: 4
Ingredients
- 1 ⅔ cup Carnaroli or other risotto rice (340 grams)
- 14 oz frozen porcini , 400 grams, see notes if using fresh or dried porcini
- 1 small onion
- 1-2 garlic cloves
- ½ cup dry white wine
- ¾ stick butter (¼ stick for sauteing the onion and saving the rest to add at the end of cooking), total 85 grams
- 5-6 cups meat broth
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese grated
- Handful fresh parsley chopped
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Salt pepper to taste
Instructions
Prepare Porcini Mushrooms
- Fresh porcini: scrub the stem with a small knife removing any dirt. Rub the mushroom head with mushroom brush then wipe with lightly damp paper towel to remove any dirt. Slice or cut into cubes.
- Dried porcini: In a small bowl put dried porcini mushrooms and pour some cold water. Stir and drain the mushrooms immediately. This way we washed away any imperfections. Now steep porcini for 30-60 minutes in just enough water to cover them. Drain reserving the liquid which you’ll add to the broth.
- Frozen porcini: take them out from the freeze just as you start making risotto. Never thaw frozen mushrooms!
Toast Rice
- In a dry clean pot/pan add rice. Turn the heat on medium/medium low and toast the rice until it starts to release aroma. Pay attention, the rice should be hot to touch but NOT burned. The color should change very slightly. Set the rice aside.
Start Preparing Risotto
- In a large skillet pan or like mine cast iron sauteuse oven add a splash of extra virgin olive oil, ⅓ of all butter and garlic crushed with a flat knife.TIP: for more intense garlic taste chop the garlic instead of using whole). Set on medium heat.
- Wait until garlic starts to become fragrant (1-2 minutes). Add finely chopped onion. Cook for 2 minutes until onion starts to become translucent. Add porcini mushrooms.PAY ATTENTION: If using frozen porcini, make sure to add them frozen. Frozen mushrooms should never be thawed before cooking otherwise they’ll loose all their texture.
- Simmer mushrooms for a few minutes. Frozen mushrooms until they’re completely separated. Help speed up the process breaking them up with a wooden spoon.
- Add chopped parsley and white wine. Simmer for 2 more minutes.
- Add rice. Mix everything until combined then start adding hot broth. One ladle at a time.
- Let simmer on low heat and add more broth as needed.Depending in the rice, risotto is usually ready in about 17-20 minutes. Like perfectly cooked pasta it should remain slightly “al dente”. A little bit toothy but not raw or grainy.
Finish Risotto with Butter & Parmesan
- Once risotto is ready turn the heat off.
- Add COLD butter and half of grated Parmesan cheese, reserving the rest for serving.
Notes
How much Fresh porcini vs Frozen porcini vs Dried porcini?
For 4 servings you'll need:
-
- 14 oz (400 g) frozen porcini mushrooms or
-
- 14-16 oz (400-450) fresh porcini if they need to be cleaned or same as frozen porcini if weighted after cleaning
-
- 1.5 oz (45 g) dried porcini
Nutrition
Calories: 588kcalCarbohydrates: 83gProtein: 11gFat: 21gSaturated Fat: 13gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 56mgSodium: 1535mgPotassium: 328mgFiber: 4gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 1264IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 130mgIron: 4mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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