Last weekend was one of poor decisions. The first was the choice to go to the Monroeville Mall. Seems the only place you can get a watch battery changed is way out in suburbia. We never, ever, go to malls. The only reason I tagged along was that George Romero used this particular one as the setting of his cult classic, Dawn of the Dead. Cool. Bad decision number two was when K had a momentary lapse in her meticulous health-conscious ways and bought a sour apple gum ball from a germ-ridden kids candy machine. She went down with the strep for the week. After a week of uninteresting and bland fare – including my admittedly failed attempt at chicken soup (seriously, how the &%$@ do you make a decent chicken soup?) – I figured I would help ease her transition back into culinary normalcy with one of her favorites…. Il risotto.
Like bruschetta, risotto represents one of those techniques that the fan of Mediterranean food simply must add to his or her repertoire. Once you get it down, no recipes are needed and the possibilities are endless. There is the simple, like the classic saffron-scented Risotto alla Milanese. Or the complex, like Jamie Oliver’s 10,000-step roasted butternut squash risotto with chestnuts and pancetta from Jamie's Kitchen. Both are awesome. This time, I went with mushroom. Since it’s already June, I figured that we’d also have our last asparagus of the season.
Three Mushroom Risotto with Pan-roasted Asparagus and Mascarpone
- Handful fresh crimini mushrooms, sliced
- Handful shitake mushrooms, sliced
- ¼ cup dried porcini mushrooms
- ½ medium onion, minced fine
- ¼ cup cry white wine (I keep a 10 dollar bottle of Italian pinot grigio on hand for cooking – don’t use cooking wine or really cheap white. The priniciple alone)
- 2 tbsp butter or olive oil (I usually use just a small dollop of butter and the rest olive oil)
- 1 cup Arborio risotto rice
- 5 cups homemade chicken stock (again, I used Lynne Rossetto Kasper's)
- ½ cup grated parmigiano reggiano cheese
- salt and pepper
- 1 bunch asparagus
- 1/4 cup mascarpone cheese
Pour boiling water over dried mushrooms. Steep for 10 minutes to reconstitute. Strain and reserve water. Sautee sliced fresh mushrooms until cooked. Warm butter/olive oil over medium heat, add minced onion and gently sautee onion until soft. Add rice and cook for one minute making sure rice gets toasted and covered in oil. Add white wine and cook for two minutes. Ladle 2 cups of broth over risotto and stir, consistently, until liquid is absorbed. Continue adding broth ½ cup at a time and stirring constantly, adding more only when the pan runs dry. Continue for approximately 20 minutes until all broth is used. Add dried porcini and continue stirring at the 15 minute mark. After 20 minutes, check rice for al dente. When rice is ready, add grated cheese and most of the sliced mushrooms. Serve with reserved mushrooms on top and shaved parmigiano cheese and small dollop of mascarpone cheese. Pan roasted asparagus on the side.
I had some leftover mascarpone and figured I’d use it for a quick dessert. Fresh raspberries (California) surround a dollop of mascarpone, drizzled with the last of some eucalyptus honey that we brought back from Pamplona. Just spoon it into a bowl and microwave for 5 seconds to get the honey into a liquid state.