Porcini Risotto

The story with this recipe is as follows....

The Italy vs England Euro Cup game was on, and in an effort to celebrate with food, I obviously had to cook something Italiano! What first came to mind when thinking about an Italian Sunday was Pasta, obviously.  But pasta was too typical - I wanted to diverge away from the usual Sunday Pasta and Sauce, so I went with the next best thing - Risotto!

These few Italian ingredients created a tremendous flavor. The tomato and white wine really shine in this dish...Maybe it should be called tomato and white wine Risotto... Well, you be the judge!  Try it , and enjoy as much as we did.

Buon Appetito, and Forza Azzurri!!!

Ingredients: 4 servings

• 7-8 cups chicken broth
• 1 small can of tomato puree
• 1 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, diced
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 cups Arborio rice
• 1/2 cup White Wine
• Few strands of Saffron
• 1/2-3/4 cups Dry Porcini Mushrooms, cut into pieces and hydrated
• 3/4 cup Parmiggiano cheese, grated
• Pinch of Crush Red Pepper
• Salt and pepper, to taste

In a medium saucepan, combine the chicken broth, saffron, and the tomato puree, and bring to a simmer. Keep warm over low heat.

In a separate, large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat and add in olive oil. Add in onion, garlic, crushed red pepper and cook until translucent.

Add rice and cook for 2 minutes, stirring to coat each grain.

When rice begins to make a crackling sound, add the white wine. Stir constantly, letting the the wine cook off and the rice absorb the wine. After about 90 seconds, add in 1 ladle of the warm broth and stir until the rice has absorbed the liquid. Repeat this process, adding the remaining broth, one ladle at a time. Continue to stir, allowing the rice to absorb each addition of broth before adding more.

About mid way, add in the Porcini Mushrooms.

After you add in your final ladle of broth, add in the grated parmigiano and stir well until cheese is blended. 

Test the rice to see if it is done. It should be slightly al dente, but creamy.  Add additional salt and pepper as needed. Plate in a bowl and garnish with a basil leaf, which will give a nice aroma to the dish.

Chardonnay Shrimp Scampi

There's just something about seafood and summer weather that I love.

Today's lunch consisted of my shrimp scampi and some chilled white wine on our NYC roof deck. Even though we were not by the sea, it still felt like a summertime vacation, being in the sun, enjoying these shrimp and wine.

We ate them by themselves since they were so good and we weren't that hungry... but you can make them on top of spaghetti or along side rice...If you make them on top of pasta, just make extra sauce (i.e. use more butter, lemon, wine, and garlic).

Ingredients: Serves 2-4
1 1/2 lb Shrimp, cleaned and de-veined
2 Garlic Cloves, minced
1/2 cup Chardonnay
1 tbs Butter
1 Lemon
1/2 tbs Fresh Italian Parsley, chopped
Salt & Cracked Pepper
Olive Oil drizzle
3/4 tbs All Purpose Flour

Put the shrimp in a large mixing bowl and season with the parsley, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Add the freshly squeezed lemon juice and mix everything together. Set aside.

In a large skillet, warm the butter and add the garlic. Let sizzle for about 1 minute, and add the Chardonnay. Let simmer for a few more minutes... then add about half the lemon juice that is in the bowl with the shrimp. Simmer for another minute.

Sift about a 1/2-3/4 tbs flour into the skillet to thicken the sauce; stir this well.

Add the shrimp into the pan and stir them into the sauce. If the sauce isn't thick enough after adding the additional juice from the shrimp mixture, form a circle in the middle and sift/mix in a little more flour like so.

Let cook for about 7-8 minutes or until shrimp are fully cooked, flipping each shrimp after about 3-4 minutes. Remove from skillet and Enjoy!

Bruschetta

I LOVE Bruschetta. If it is on a menu, chances are I will order it as a starter. If I am hosting people over, chances are I will make Bruschetta as a starter. It is just one of those very simple, but delicious and easy appetizers that everyone loves.

I use either grape or cherry tomatoes because I think they are tastier, and packed with more flavor. For every serving of tomatoes, I like to use about a quarter of red onion.

You can make these on a plain, toasted baguette... but I like to jazz up the toast with parmigiano and garlic. I've done this on both multigrain and regular bread. You choose!





Ingredients:

Tomato Bruschetta:
Grape/Cherry Tomatoes, Diced
Red Onion, Diced
Dry Italian Oregano
Cracked Black Pepper
Sea Salt
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Toast:
Baguette, sliced
Olive Oil/Butter
Parmigiano Cheese, grated
Garlic Powder


Mix together the tomatoes, onion, oregano, evoo, salt & pepper. Taste until there is enough salt and oregano. These two really make the flavors come out. Let sit together for about 20 minutes so all the flavors marinate together.

In the mean time, get the toast prepared. Drizzle olive oil or spread butter on each slice of baguette (I used olive oil here). Sprinkle garlic powder and parmigiano cheese on each slice. Toast in the oven for about 8 minutes. I like the bread softer rather than toasted harder, but if you want it crunchier, leave it in longer.

Serve the tomatoes either on top of the toasts, or display separately and let your guests make their own (this way the bread doesn't get soggy).