Risotto Con Fungi - Risotto with Porcini Mushrooms

When most people think about Italian food, pasta usually comes to mind, but in Northern Italy risotto is very popular. In fact to truely know Northern Italian cuisine you have to be familiar with risotto.

Unfortunately for me, my husband will not eat anything that includes mushrooms, so it's not often when I make this wonderful risotto dish.

2 1/2 cups Arborio rice

1/2 cup finely chopped white onion

3 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1 oz. dry porcini mushrooms
about
6-7 cups vegetable broth

1 cup red wine like Merlot

1/2 cup freshly grated Italian Parmesan

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh Italian parsley

Place the mushrooms in lukewarm water and let them soak for about 20 minutes or until soft.
 When soft remove them and squeeze all the excess water out. The chop them into smaller pieces or leave them bigger according to your taste and set them aside. 

In a large non stick pan cook the onions in 2 tbsp. butter until they're translucent being careful not to brown them. Add a little water if they get too dry. 
When the onions are ready add the rice, combine it well with the onions and butter, and toast it for about 2-3 minutes at high heat.
Then add the mushrooms and mix in for a few seconds. 

Add 1 cup of wine and mix well until it evaporates. Use a good full bodied red wine like Cabernet.

Add about 2 cups vegetable broth and reduce the heat to medium. Mix it frequently. 
Continue adding broth in the same quantity mixing frequently. Continue doing so until the rice is nearly cooked. This will take practice since every rice cooks differently.

When the rice is almost cooked, it should be 15-20 minutes according to package direction, add 1 Tbsp of butter, the parsley and the Parmesan.
Remove from the stove, cover the pan with the lid and let it stand for few minutes. 

Serve the rice and accompanied it with extra Parmesan for the topping.