Risotto with Porcini Mushrooms and Mascarpone

As fall descends and the nights grow slightly brisker (although of course not very brisk in DC) I decided to try my hand at a new dish - risotto. A Northern Italian rice dish, risotto is most famously from Milan. It is made using very short-grained rice and is slow-cooked over 30 or more minutes, slowly adding liquid until just 1 cup of rice has soaked up nearly 5 cups of liquid. It really happens. Slowly. This process makes the short rice heavy and nearly creamy in texture without being sticky or clumpy. Risottos are seasoned with all types of vegetables and meats and almost always include a cheese. These are all added at the very end of the recipe.

Nervous? Don't be. Although generally assumed to be a restaurant food, risotto is not that tricky to make once you get the hang of it. Just follow the instructions carefully the first time and soon you'll be an expert! It's more a matter of paying attention and reacting quickly than anything else. And, as you become more confident, feel free to experiment. Try different flavors or supplements to your risotto! Serve it as the main meal or make a smaller, simpler one as a side dish to something else. It's a warm, satisfying, and very fancy appearing meal to make on a chilly night for a romantic dinner, for friends, or just for one!

Risotto with Porcini Mushrooms and Mascarpone
For my first risotto experience I decided to dive into a mushroom version of the dish. And since it was my first try at this oft-tricky dish I decided to follow the recipe very closely.... just two changes of note!

First of all, dried porcini mushrooms (or any fancier/more unusual varieties) are actually quite expensive. A small bag was around $10 at my local Whole Foods. I mixed it up by purchasing one of porcini mushrooms (more expensive) and one of the less expensive crimini varieties. Feel free to experiment or play around with these options as well. While I do recommend a fancier, more flavorful version than your run of the mill mushrooms mixing in crimini and porcini, or shiitake and porcini, or some other mixture will not harm your recipe at all. In fact, the mixture might even add to it!

I also skipped the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. I'm not a huge fan to start and therefore decided to save the calories if possible. I found that 1/4 cup of mascarpone cheese more than filled the creamy cheese texture requirement and satisfied my cheese urge entirely while eating the risotto. And mascarpone is delicious.

I made this at the beginning of the week and took in leftovers for lunch for four days. There was plenty to spare since small portions are quite filling. So dig on in and enjoy!