Risotto ai funghi (mushroom risotto)

Ingredients

• 800 ml vegetable broth
• 10 g dried porcini mushrooms
• 1 onion
• 1 clove of garlic
• 150 g of fresh mixed mushrooms (e.g. champignons and oyster mushrooms)
• 1/2 bunch of Italian parsley (flat leaf parsley)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp butter
• 120 g risotto rice (e.g. Arborio)
• 100 ml white wine
• 50 g of Italian hard cheese (e.g. Parmigiano reggiano)
• salt
• pepper
• 1 tsp finely grated lemon peel + a splash of lemon juice

Preparation

1. Heat up 800 ml of vegetable broth and keep it hot by letting it simmer on a low heat. Soak the dried porcini in 50 ml of hot water for 10 min. Finely dice onion and garlic. Cut the mixed mushrooms into thick slices. Chop the parsley. Drain the soaked porcini over a sieve and collect the liquid. Finely chop the porcini.
2. In a pot heat up 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp butter. Add chopped onion, garlic and porcini and sauté for 2 minutes. Add 120 g of risotto rice and sauté briefly while stirring. Deglaze with 100 ml white wine and the porcini water and let it boil down.
3. Add only so much broth that the rice is covered. Let it simmer at medium heat for about 20 minutes while stirring frequently. Don’t cover the pot with a lid. Always add only a little bit of the hot broth as soon as the rice almost absorbed the liquid. 7 minutes before the end of the cooking time add the fresh mushrooms and continue cooking.
4. Grate the cheese. Add half of the cheese to the risotto. Season with salt, pepper, 1 tsp of finely grated lemon peel and a splash of lemon juice. Serve sprinkled with remaining cheese, parsley and a drizzle of olive oil.

A risotto is usually served as primo piatto (first course).