Risotto ai funghi porcini

Former Socceroos player and coach John Aloisi shares his porcini risotto, rich, earthy and packed with umami — a guaranteed crowd-pleaser, for vegetarian guests or all! Maximise the porcini flavour by reserving the liquid used to soak the porcinis and using it to cook the rice.

Credit: Jiwon Kim

• serves

  4

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 50 g dried porcini mushrooms, soaked for 20 minutes, then strained, reserving the soaking liquid
• 1 vegetable stock cube
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 250 g Swiss brown or chestnut mushrooms, roughly chopped
• 300 g arborio rice
• 200 ml dry white wine
• 50 g butter, diced
• 50 g finely grated parmesan cheese
• 1 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, roughly chopped

Soaking time: 20 minutes

Instructions

1. Combine the porcini soaking liquid with the crumbled stock cube in a large jug, whisking to dissolve the stock powder.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan pan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 5 minutes, or until softened.
3. Stir through the rehydrated porcini and fresh mushrooms. Add a pinch of salt and black pepper and cook for 5 minutes, or until the fresh mushrooms have softened. Add the rice and stir to coat in the mushrooms. Pour the wine into the rice and simmer until almost evaporated.
4. Pour ¼ of the porcini soaking liquid into the rice, stirring frequently, until the rice absorbs the liquid. Continue to add the mushroom soaking liquid in quarters until the rice is creamy, tender and almost cooked.
5. Continue stirring until the rice is cooked. If the rice is still undercooked, add a splash of water. Take the pan off the heat, add the butter and scatter over half the parmesan and half the parsley.
6. Cover and allow to stand until the rice absorbs any excess liquid as it sits. Stir, then divide the risotto between bowls. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and parsley and serve.

Photography by Jiwon Kim.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.