MUSHROOM RISOTTO – serves 4 people

My Bolognese mother taught me how to cook. I became so in love with cooking northern Italian cuisine that I paid off my student loans in Boston by cooking for people.

I hope you enjoy the legacy of my mother in these original recipes inspired by mom’s love for homemade Italian food.

 ingredients:

• 5 cups homemade meat broth
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons of onion chopped very fine
• 2 cups of Arborio rice
• 1 ounce of dried porcini mushrooms, reconstituted
• 8 ounces of domestic white mushrooms, chopped
• 1/3 cup parmigiano-reggiano cheese, plus additional cheese at the table
• salt – may not be required since the cheese has plenty

1. bring the broth to a very slow, steady simmer.
2. put 1 tablespoon of butter, the vegetable oil, and the chopped onion in a broad, sturdy pot, and turn on the heat to medium high. Cook and stir the onion until it becomes translucent, then add the rice. Stir quickly and thoroughly until the grains are coated well.
3. add 1/2 cup of simmering broth, and continue this process, ladle by ladle, allowing the rice to soak up the broth.
4. after the rice has cooked for 10 minutes, add the reconstituted porcini mushrooms and the chopped domestic whites and 1/2 of the filtered water from the porcini mushrooms.
5. continue to stir and when there is no more liquid, add more of the mushroom water, stirring, letting it evaporate, and adding more, until you have used it all up. This adds more flavoring to the dish.
6. finish cooking the rice with the broth or, if you have no more broth, with water. Cook the rice until it is tender, but firm to the bite, with no more liquid remaining in the pot.
7. off heat, add a few grindings of pepper, the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter, and all the grated Parmesan, and stir thoroughly until the cheese melts and clings to the rice. Taste and correct for salt. Transfer to a platter and serve promptly with additional grated cheese on the side.

Buon appetito!