Porcini, Parmesan and Sage Risotto

Takes just 20 minutes to make, so a super easy dinner for the whole family. I picked the sage from my balcony and bought the Parmesan and special aged (aka expensive but I assure you it was worth it!) Acquerello risotto rice from GCX at the bottom of One Island South, Aberdeen. This is a not just a pizzeria but also an Italian deli selling olive oil, Italian cheese (incl. burrata) and cold cuts.

What you need:

1/2 cup of dried porcini mushrooms

25g butter

1/2 large brown onion

1 clove of garlic

1 glass of dry white wine

1 cup of risotto rice

1 1/2 cups of chicken stock

150g Parmesan

10 leaves fresh sage

Salt & pepper

Pinch of cayenne 

Method: 

First soak 1/2 cup of porcini in 1 cup boiling water. 

Then melt a knob of butter in a large saucepan and gently fry 1/2 a large onion and 1 clove of garlic, all finely sliced. Add 1 cup of rice and fry for 1 min until the rice is see-through. Then add one glass of dry white wine (while drinking another...). Once absorbed, add 1/2 cup of chicken stock and stir until absorbed. 

Chop those soaked porcini and add them along with the water they were soaking in. When this has been absorbed, add another 1/2 cup of chicken stock and keeping adding a little liquid at a time, keeping it on a medium heat, until it's absorbed and the rice is cooked. This takes around 15 mins. 

When the rice is just cooked with still a little bite to it, add around 10 fresh chopped sage leaves and 150g grated Parmesan. Taste then season with salt (not too much as the cheese can be salty), pepper and a pinch of cayenne. 

Garnish with sage leaves. Serve with the rest of the bottle of wine if there's any left...

Serves 2 adults.