Dried-Porcini-Mushroom Risotto with Goat Cheese

Ingredients

1. 1 cup dry porcini mushrooms
2. 3 cups hot water
3. 3 ½ cups canned low-sodium chicken broth, you can also use homemade stock here
4. 3 tablespoons olive oil
5. 1 onion, chopped
6. 5 cloves garlic, minced
7. 2 cups arborio rice
8. 1 ¼ teaspoons salt
9. 2 tablespoons butter
10. ¼ teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
11. 2 ounces mild goat cheese, such as Montrachet, crumbled
12. Grated Parmesan, for serving.

Recipe

• Add the dried mushrooms in a medium sized bowl and then pour hot water over them. Soak the mushrooms in until they become soft for about 20 minutes. Then remove the mushrooms, keeping the soaking liquid preserved and then chop the mushrooms. Then, you need to strain the preserved liquid via a paper towel lined sieve into a saucepan. Then add the broth to the saucepan and simmer it on the stove.

• Next, in a pot, you need to heat the oil over in a moderately low heat. Then you need to add onion and garlic and then cook them, keep stirring it occasionally until the onions turn translucent for about 5 minutes. Then you need to add the chopped mushrooms to this mixture, rice, salt and keep stirring until the rice turns opaque for about 2 minutes.

• Then you need to add half a cup of the simmering broth to the rice and cook it by stirring it frequently until the broth is completely absorbed. The rice and broth should bubble, adjust the heat if needed. Keep cooking the rice and add broth a half cup at a time and letting the rice to absorb it before you add the next half cup. Cook the rice until it becomes tender for abour 25 to 30 minutes. If the broth hasn’t nicely absorbed, then it should be thickened by the starch present in the rice. Not all the liquid has to be used, you can need more of it or add some water.

• Then add the butter, pepper and the goat cheese, keep stirring consistently.

• Serve the dish with grated cheese on top.

You can add Tuscany’s Chardonnays and fill it with tropical fruits and oaked, this may not be typical Italian. But they have the power to be a great combo here.