Porcini mushroom risotto with Parmesan & thyme #181

Porcini or cepe mushrooms are one of my absolute favorites and when the season is right you can find loads of them here in Sweden. Whenever I get my hands on fresh forest mushrooms I go with a classic recipe like pasta, risotto, a mushroom toast or serve them as a side for meat dishes but I almost always keep the additional flavors classic. This time that meant Parmesan cheese and thyme with mushrooms in a creamy risotto. 

Porcini mushroom risotto with Parmesan & thyme

arborio rice

fresh porcini mushrooms (the recipe of course works fine with other mushrooms as well)

garlic

shallot onion

dry white wine

olive oil

Parmesan cheese

fresh thyme

butter

chicken or vegetable stock

salt, pepper

Select the best looking mushrooms and set aside, these will be used for decoration later. Chop remaining mushrooms into cubes. Finely dice the garlic and shallot onion. Add onion, mushrooms and garlic to a pot or sautese with some olive oil. Cook the mix in the oil until it is soft on low heat, season with salt and pepper. Add the rice and let it cook for a few minutes then add a bit of white wine and let it reduce until almost dry.

Add the stock a little bit at the time and keep stirring while the rice cooks, when the rice is almost cooked through add grated Parmesan cheese, a few leafs of thyme and a bit of butter and set aside. Roast the sliced mushrooms in a pan and season with salt and pepper. Stir the risotto and season if necessary, if it get´s to dry add a bit of water. Add the risotto to a plate and the add the sliced fried mushrooms, shave some Parmesan on top and a more leafs of thyme. Serve!

New Years recipe ideas for vegetarians

New Years Eve is coming up and if you haven´t decided on what to serve I have picked some of my own favorite recipes from Delicious Tapas and have some great suggestions for you! I will publish a few different menu ideas in the days leading up to New years eve and they will all have a theme of their own.

I´m starting off with New Years recipe ideas for all you vegetarians out there.

All recipes can be found in their original post that I have linked for each dish. I haven´t suggested any dessert but since I´m not that much into desserts. But if I have to recommend something I would go for any great ice cream, because who doesn´t love ice-cream?

Vegetarian New Years Menu

Appetizers - to start off the party I´m serving three different appetizers that can be eaten standing up preferably with a glass of champagne in one hand. They can of course also be served as a first starter at the table but I prefer to serve it with a drink while your guests are arriving.

Grilled parsnips with arugula and almond pesto
Green gazpacho with cream cheese crostini
Roasted red pepper and walnut dip on crostini

Main course

Beet carpaccio with deep fried capers and arugula
Lemon risotto with pickled lemon rinds and black pepper

Here you have two choices, either serve these two dishes separately or together, I quite like to serve them together because I think the beets go really well with the risotto and since you will be serving the beets cold it will be a little bit different than just roasted beets with risotto that I think most vegetarians have been served at restaurants since the start of time. You will need to serve them on separate plates or separated from each other on a big plate because otherwise the beets will color the risotto.

Lemon risotto with pickled lemon rinds & black pepper #137

Risotto is always a good choice and I really like to serve it on it´s own, you don´t have to serve that much because most risottos are very rich. This one is slightly lighter thanks to the lemon.

Lemon risotto with pickled lemon rinds & black pepper

Italian arborio rice
dry white wine
Parmesan cheese
lemon
shallot onion
garlic
salt, black pepper
sugar
light chicken stock
olive oil
butter

Cut away the rind from the lemon, you´ll need all of the skin and let a little bit of the meat stay attached to the rind. Cut the rind in cubes, bring water to the boil and add the lemon rinds, let simmer for ten minutes. Then discard the water and repeat three times. This will remove most of the bitterness but will still keep a little bit of the lemon flavor. Also the remaining bitterness will give the dish great flavor and a little bit of contrast to the acidity of the lemon juice. Once the rind is cooked bring equal parts water and sugar to the boil and add the rinds together with a few drops of lemon juice. Let simmer for ten minutes and then leave to cool.

Dice garlic and shallots and add to a pan with some olive oil, salt and pepper. Let the onions cook on low heat for five minutes, then add rice and let cook another five minutes on low heat. Turn up the heat a little bit and add a little bit of white wine and lemon juice and stir gently. Once the lemon and wine is almost gone add chicken stock a little at the time constantly stirring until the rice is almost done. You will want to keep a little bit of bite to it and the rice will keep cooking even after you remove it from the heat so be careful not to overcook it. Once the rice is almost done add a knob of butter and grated Parmesan cheese and a few drops of lemon juice.

Let the risotto rest for a few minutes and then adjust the flavors with salt, pepper, Parmesan and lemon juice if necessary. Plate the risotto and add some extra black pepper, olive oil, Parmesan and the pickled lemon rinds on top. Serve warm.