Porcini Mushroom Risotto
My great-grandmother’s risotto recipe! For years my family simply referred to this as “risotto” as if it was the only version! It’s not, it’s just that it’s the only version we ever made! This was our standard recipe. The one my great-grandmother taught the rest of us to make! And I’m happy to be sharing it with you now.
As I made it again for this video, it occurred to me what a hearty dish it is, and I had to laugh at the fact that we ate it all year round. I don’t associate this dish with any particular day or holiday (at least that I can remember). I know it was often a special request for birthdays, or family dinners, but there was never a day where we said, on this day, we eat the risotto.
There’s a couple of key ingredients in this one. The first is that lagunica style sausage - or as we say “the skinny one.” It’s a sausage typical in Northern Italy, where Nonni was from. Instead of links, it’s coiled up and skewered to hold it together (which, by the way, makes it great on the grill in the summertime). For this dish, we unwrap it and cut it into small pieces, 2 inches or less. The other key is the dried porcini mushrooms. These add SO MUCH FLAVOR to this dish. We always used dried because porcini’s can be pricey, and the dried ones will last you MUCH longer! So at least you get your money’s worth. Finally, we use what’s sold here as “meatball mix” (there’s a LOT of Italian-Americans in Jersey) - it’s a one pound package of ground meat that’s split, one third beef, one third pork and one third veal. Again, it’s all about flavor! Of course, if you can’t find that, all beef works fine. Sometimes, I’ll skip the veal and just buy a package of beef and one of pork and mix the two myself. As always, cooking is all about how YOU like YOUR food (cause I’m not coming over to eat it!).
From there, it’s all the standards of a good risotto. Olive oil, butter, onion, arborio rice, white wine and warm stock. The big thing when cooking this dish is to brown up the sausages before cooking anything else. If you try to cook them in the risotto they’ll get chewy. Browning them before hand in the same pan you plan to use also let’s you get the most flavor out of them because you can scrape up all of the browned bits they leave behind!
I hope you enjoy making this dish with and for friends and family. Because at this point, life IS the special occasion! Buon appetito!
Nonni’s Porcini Mushroom Risotto
Serve 8-10
3 Tbs. olive oil, divided
1 package lagunica style sausage, cut into short links
1/2 C. dried porcini mushrooms
1 Tbs. butter
1 onion, chopped
1 pound “meatball mix” (1/3 lb. beef, 1/3 lb. pork, 1/3 lb. veal)
2 C. arborio rice
1 C. white wine (pinot grigio, chardonnay)
5 C. chicken stock
Salt
Pepper
Parmesan cheese (optional for serving)
Chopped, fresh parsley (optional for serving)
Pour about a half cup of hot water over the mushrooms and set aside. Pour the chicken stock into a pot and set over low heat.
Heat a large pan over medium-high heat. When hot, add in 1 tablespoon of olive oil and the sausages. Brown on all sides. Remove the sausages from the pan and set aside on a plate.
In the same pan, heat the butter and remaining olive oil. Add the onion and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add in the ground meat and brown, breaking it up with a wooden spoon.
While the meat browns, drain the mushrooms, reserving the liquid. Roughly chop the mushrooms and add them to the pan.
Add the rice to the pan with the meat and allow to toast for a minute or two, until the ends of the grains become opaque. Season with salt.
Add in the reserved mushroom liquid. When the rice has absorbed this, add in the white wine. When the dish looks dry again, begin adding in ladles full of warm chicken stock. Cook the risotto over medium heat, stirring gently until the stock is absorbed. As the dish looks dry, add in more stock. Continue cooking in this way for 15-18 minutes.
Taste the risotto to check for doneness. The rice should be al dente, soft, but not mushy. Add the sausages back into the pan and continue cooking for another 3-5 minutes until warmed through.
Top the risotto with parmesan cheese and fresh parsley before serving.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Add a few tablespoons of chicken stock before re-heating.