Porcini Mushroom Risotto

Reconstitute the dried mushrooms with 1 cup of hot water, you can actually do this right in the glass measuring cup.  Allow the mushrooms to soak at least 15 minutes, until they are very soft. Squeeze the mushrooms to extract all their liquid, rinse, chop, and reserve. Strain the porcini water using fine mesh cheesecloth, lightly dampened paper towel or a coffee filter placed in a strainer over a bowl, you should have about 1 cup porcini water. Pour half the strained liquid into a saucepan and add the chicken stock.  Heat on a low flame. If pairing this recipe with a roasted meat dish, add the remaining half a cup of porcini water to the roasting pan or gravy.

Heat the oil in a large skillet, cook and stir the onions, over medium heat, until they are translucent, about 5 to 7 minutes.  Add the rice, cook and stir, over medium heat, for 5 minutes.  Add the vermouth or white wine and cook until the liquid has cooked out, about 3 minutes.  Begin ladling the warm stock into the skillet, one ladle at a time, over medium heat, until the liquid is absorbed.  You’ll see that the first couple of ladles will be soaked right up; the next few will take a little longer.  Continue ladling until you have about 2 ladles left.  At that time, add the chopped porcini mushrooms.  Continue adding stock until the rice is al dente, firm to the bite but not crunchy. Season with salt and pepper.

NP For a non-pareve preparation you can use butter in place of the oil, and add about ¼ cup of grated Parmesan cheese and a pat of butter before serving.

Courtesy of the Kosher Carnivore, St. Martin’s Press, fall 2011