Ingredients
- 1.5 litres chicken or vegetable stock
- 50g of butter
- a finely chopped onion
- 500g of carnaroli (or arborio) rice
- 200ml of white wine
- 25g of dried porcini mushrooms
- 200g of assorted, finely sliced, mushrooms
- 100g of butter in pieces
- 2/3 cup of grated parmesan
Method
Of the cultivated mushrooms, white buttons should have bright, white caps; shiitake should be firm, full and dry, though not shrivelled; Swiss browns or honey browns should be full and firm with a light buffed-brown cap. Of the wild mushrooms, the saffron milk cap should have a bright-orange cap and gills, with no dark blotches; the slippery jack or pine boletus should be dark amber brown with a dry sponge instead of gills.
Place a pot of simmering chicken stock on the stove top. In a wide pan heat butter, add a finely chopped onion and saute until transparent - about a minute.
Add carnaroli (or arborio) rice and stir until the grains are transparent - about two minutes. Add white wine and allow it to completely evaporate. Add two or three ladles of chicken stock, then stir. Add dried porcini mushrooms (soaked in water for a minute, then drained) and assorted, finely sliced, mushrooms.
Add chicken stock a little at a time, waiting until it is absorbed before adding more, and stir. After 15 minutes (carnaroli rice takes longer than arborio) or so, add a couple of good pinches of salt and taste. It should still be a little chalky. Remove from heat, stir in butter in pieces and grated parmesan.
Put the lid on and rest for 3-4 minutes.
To serve
Serve with grated parmesan.
