Porcini and pea risotto

The legendary Café del Sol in Johannesburg might be the city’s best-kept culinary secret if it wasn’t so well known! The family behind its charm and success – Chiara Viljoen with Ryan Viljoen and their mother Luciana Treccani – bring us recipes from their kitchen in the new book, Our Italian Legacy of Love. We have a few to share…

STAND A CHANCE TO WIN

We have a copy to give away of Our Italian Legacy of Love. To stand a chance to win, send an email to info@silverdigest.co.za with ‘OurItalian Legacy of Love’ in the subject line, your name and contact details by31 October 2021.

Porcini and pea risotto

SERVES 2

When we grew up, one of our family holidays was going to the forest to forage our own fresh porcini mushrooms. We would head down to the pine forests for the day with a packed lunch, our minds brimming with instructions about how to tell the difference between a porcini mushroom and a poisonous mushroom, and the promise of a competition. To find porcini, you have to note the texture of the pine mounds (or under oak trees) – under these trees is where the most delicious porcini are to be found. Armed with sticks, we would gently test the mound with our shoes for firmness. If firm, it was usually a porcini, but if soft and collapsed, it was generally poisonous. We’d separate the pine needles with our sticks and check. The abundance of nature in those childhood days seems almost mythical compared to the reality of life now. We would bounce back with full sacks of porcini. Considering the current cost of porcini mushrooms, we could have retired early with that much produce! Slice and freeze porcini or cook them with garlic, parsley, salt, pepper and extra virgin olive oil. Crumb them and eat the porcini as steak; or slice the porcini and cook them in bolognese to give the sauce a deeper and more savoury taste. Even porcini on toast is delicious. Porcini are very close to our heart, and we try to find new ways to incorporate their unique flavour and texture in our dishes.

• 1 litre chicken or vegetable broth

• 20g porcini dust

• A dash of extra virgin olive oil

• 80g butter (reserve 50g for mantecatura at the end)

• ½ onion, finely chopped

• 1–2 cloves garlic, chopped (optional)

• 200g porcini mushrooms, frozen and sliced

• 200g Vialone Nano rice

• 125ml white wine

• 50g frozen peas (or preferably fresh if you can find them)

• 10g fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

• Salt and pepper to taste

• 50g Parmesan cheese, grated

Heat the stock in a saucepan and stir in the porcini dust. Simmer slowly and allow it to infuse. In another saucepan over low heat, add a dash of olive oil and 30g of the butter. Allow it to melt and then cook the onion until translucent. Add the garlic (if using) and the porcini mushrooms. Allow to cook through. Add the rice and allow it to toast slightly in the mushroom mixture. Pour in the wine and allow it to cook off.

In another saucepan, blanche the peas and drain, then add to the risotto pan. Start adding the warm stock, two ladles at a time, allowing it to absorb gradually. Continue adding and stirring until the rice has a slight bite to it. The risotto should be almost ready when you drag a spoon through it and the mixture comes together slowly, almost soupy. Add the parsley and season the risotto. Take the risotto off the stove and add the remaining butter and some of the Parmesan cheese, allowing it to absorb and rest. Serve topped with the remaining cheese.