Italian seafood risotto with porcini mushrooms ...

The earthy undertones of this seafood risotto, produced by these exotic, Italian mushrooms and their "stock", teams with traditional risotto ingredients to create a truly, sumptuous dish.

Don't take our word for it (though our word is Golden), try it for yourself.

The preparation is similar to the vegetable risotto detailed on the Italian risotto home page. You cook the shrimp and scallops (al dente) separately and add them to the dish near completion (along with their juices) to finish.

Just be patient and keep the heat low, and there's absolutely no reason your seafood risotto shouldn't be "to die for". It can happen with this dish. Take the ball and run with it.

New Italian Recipes Presents:
Italian Seafood Risotto With Porcini Mushrooms

Ingredients:
1 cup Italian arborio rice
2-3 T e. v. olive oil
4-6 cups chicken stock (preferably homemade)
1/2 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
2 cups boiling water (to reconstitute the dried porcinis)
1/2 cup dry, white wine such as chardonnay or pinot grigio
1/2 lb medium or large shrimp and 1/2 lb scallops (or, all shrimp or all scallops)
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 cup onions or shallots, finely minced
1 T fennel seeds, crushed in (coffee grinder)
2 T fresh Italian Parsley, chopped
1/4 to 1/2 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano
salt and freshly ground black or Tellicherry pepper
(see Herb and Spice Dictionary)
1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
2 T butter or yogurt butter

Preparation:
Pour boiling water into small bowl and add porcinis to reconstitute. This takes from 20-30 minutes, so plan ahead. Shrooms should be soft and plumped.

Set chicken stock to a slow simmer in a large sauce pan or soup pan

In large skillet, heat wine over medium and add garlic for one minute.

Add the seafood and let simmer until shrimp turn just pink, and/or scallops just turn translucent. Remove from heat and let steep in the wine.

(In other words, cook the seafood only to medium rare, since it will continue to cook in the wine and when added to the risotto.)

After the porcinis have "re-constituted" for about half an hour, take the porcinis out of the liquid and squeeze out some of the juice back into the bowl. It will be dark brownish red by now and deeply flavorful. Yum! If it's "gritty", strain the grit out.

Add the cleaned porcini liquid and the porcinis themselves to the simmering stock

Perfect! Now the risotto stock is primed to deeply infuse the arborio with the earthy, chestnutty flavor of the porcinis. (They grow underneath chestnut trees in Italy and take on the flavor).

You are sooo going to love this. Darn it, I wish we were there!

Now, in a large cast iron skillet or large non-stick skillet, heat olive oil to medium.

Add the onions and toss them a couple of times to coat. Then, add the Italian Arborio rice.

Toss the rice with the onions a few times to coat it well with oil. This helps the rice to absorb the cooking juices slowly. It also assists in producing the silky texture that we so love in a really professionally done risotto.

Okay, now you add a ladle or two of the barely simmering stock, stir a little, make sure the developing risotto is completely covered with juices and reduce the heat to low.

Let it just simmer for a few, until the liquid is absorbed and the liquid level is just below the top of the rice.

Add more stock. You don't have to stir this time but make sure the rice is completely covered again. And just keep repeating this for about fifteen or so.

You are just about done now, so add the seafood and the liquid that is with it in its cooking pan.

Let the level of the liquid in your risotto reduce by about half.

It's now time to taste for tenderness of the rice. If the rice is tender enough for your personal taste (we like it really tender with just a tiny bit of crispness), add the cheese and butter, stir them in thoroughly and let the risotto continue to cook until almost all of the liquid has been absorbed.

Remove from the heat. Please let the dish stand for about 5-7 minutes and the flavors will meld (marry) a bit more.

Serve in pasta bowls (we've got these really cute Italiany bowls we serve pasta in and they're perfect for seafood risotto.)

Top with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and freshly chopped Italian Parsley.

A nice Italian Chard or substantive pinot grigio goes great with this. Let us know what you think!

Buon appetito always!
Brought to you with love from
Aunt Aletha and Dear Old Dave