| Yield: | 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 1-ounce dried morel mushrooms
- 1/2 pound fresh porcini or cremini mushrooms
- 4 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
- 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
- 2 ounces pancetta, diced
- 1/2 cup chopped shallots (3 shallots)
- 1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1/2 teaspoon saffron threads
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving
Instructions
- Place the dried morels in a bowl and pour 2 cups boiling water over them. Set aside for 30 minutes. Scoop the morels from the water with a slotted spoon, reserving the liquid. You should have 2 cups; if not, add water to make 2 cups. Drain the morels and rinse once more. If some of the mushrooms are large, cut into 2 or 3 pieces. Pour the mushroom liquid through a coffee filter or paper towel, discarding the gritty solids. Set the mushrooms and the liquid aside separately.
- Meanwhile, remove and discard the stems of the porcini and rub any dirt off the caps with a damp paper towel. Dont rinse them! Slice thickly and set aside.
- In a small saucepan, heat the chicken stock with the 2 cups of reserved mushroom liquid and bring to a simmer.
- In a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter and saute the pancetta and shallots over medium-low heat for 5 minutes. Add the morels and porcini and saute for another 5 minutes. Add the rice and stir to coat the grains with butter. Add the wine and cook for 2 minutes. Add 2 full ladles of the chicken stock mixture to the rice plus the saffron, salt, and pepper. Stir and simmer over low heat until the stock is absorbed, 5 to 10 minutes. Continue to add the stock mixture, 2 ladles at a time, stirring every few minutes. Each time, cook until the mixture seems a little dry before adding more of the stock mixture. Continue until the rice is cooked through, but still al dente, about 25 to 30 minutes total. When done, the risotto should be thick and creamy and not at all dry. Off the heat, stir in the Parmesan cheese. Serve hot in bowls with extra cheese.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 6 servings |
| Calories | 489 |
| Total Fat | 21 g |
| Saturated Fat | 11 g |
| Carbohydrates | 54 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Sugar | 5 g |
| Protein | 16 g |
| Cholesterol | 53 mg |
| Sodium | 758 mg |
Reviews
My first homemade risotto and it turned out beautifully. Thank you Ina.
“stirring every few minutes” … I think this is the step that messed it up for me. I hadn’t made other risottos before so didn’t realize this isn’t the usual method. My friend who I cooked this for has made risotto in the past and said it should be stirred constantly. Also the rice should have been lightly toasted in the pot before adding in the wine, another step that seems to have been missed in this recipe. This ‘risotto’ ended up a gloopy mess and I had to toss out the entire batch after we ate just a small portion of the end result. Ive always had great results with Garten’s recipe so no doubt the error is on my end; but next time I attempt risotto it will be with a more traditional recipe that follows the usual process.
I’m glad others here seem to have had great success with it. The flavour was definitely there but the consistency was pretty awful.
I’m glad others here seem to have had great success with it. The flavour was definitely there but the consistency was pretty awful.
Followed the recipe to the T. It turned out perfectly and a great compliment to a strong protein. V Day was a success, thx Ina!!
This was so good! I made it vegan by swapping in vegan butter and Parmesan. I used chick’n broth. In place of pancetta I added some minced truffle at the very end with the cheese. It cooked up creamy and delicious. This recipe is super easy to follow. We all loved it. I paired it with sliced home grown tomatoes with a light drizzle of olive oil and balsamic. It made three entree servings, so I guess by saying it serves six that is as a side.
Amazing. I make it often. Have also added green peas
Ina, this is killer! Like the others I could only find portobellos. I used mushroom stock as I already had it in the pantry.
Easy and scrumptious!
Easy and scrumptious!
No morels this time of year, so used a gourmet exotic mushroom medley plus a lot of portobello. Saffron was gentle and added a lot of mid-palette depth. Fresh parsley on top made it a completely rounded dish. Excellent and full of flavor.
Just divine. SO yummy!! The morels give this a real nice flavor bomb and add a nice, meaty texture. We added some butter and garlic seared scallops on top, and it was the most perfect, comforting dinner on a snowy winter night! Thanks, Ina!
Flavor bomb!
Wow! First time making risotto and this recipe turned out great! I too, couldn’t find the dried morels, and just used a gourmet mushroom blend and bumped up the amount of chicken stock.