Happy Friday! I’m still loving my girl, Chrissy Teigen’s cookbook, Cravings. If you haven’t gotten it yet- you should. From page 1 you’ll be wishing you were a supermodel, who eats carbs and is married to John Legend. Man, some girls get all the luck.
If you’re in need of a delicious dish heading into the weekend, this risotto is la la lovely for a snuggled-in date night or impressing a group of your besties (either situation deserve a glass of wine, of course).
What You’ll Need:
2 oz. dried porcini mushrooms
2 cups warm water
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 shallot or 1/4 small onion, finely chopped
1 cup Arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
1 cup shredded Parmigiano- Reggiano, plus more for garnish
freshly ground black pepper
The How To:
- Place the porcinis and warm water in a bowl & soak until soft, at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours. Remove the mushrooms, squeeze them so the liquid drips back into the bowl and strain the liquid through a piece of cheesecloth or very fine strainer.
- Transfer the strained soaking liquid to a medium saucepan, leaving behind any grit in the bottom of the bowl and add chicken broth. Warm the broth over medium-low heat until steaming and keep warm on a back burner.
- In another medium saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Add the shallot and cook until translucent (but not browned) about 5 minutes. Add the rice and stir, allowing to cook for 2 minutes. Add wine and salt and increase heat to medium-high and boil until the wine is mostly evaporated, 2-3 minutes.
- Return the heat to medium and using a ladle, add 1 cup of the brother to the rice; cook & keep stirring until the broth is almost all absorbed. Keep adding 1/2 cup of broth at a time, waiting to add more until most the brother in the pot is absorbed each time and cook, stirring occasionally until the rice is swollen and still very slightly firm in the middle. Overall this process is about 22 minutes. You may be left with a little broth you don’t use; traditionally risotto should be a little loose and saucy but how wet you want it is up to you.
- Stir in the peas and cook just long enough to warm them through then stir in the remaining tablespoon of butter, Parm and reserved chopped porcini.
- Divide risotto among bowls, garnish with fresh pepper and of course, a little more parm (because, cheese..) Enjoy!
Cheers,
