Recipe of the week: Boletus mushroom Risotto

Last friday I was with some stomach problems so I only had white rice for lunch and dinner. Despite what you may think this was not a really big effort, why? because I really love rice!!! So the recipe of this week had to be a rice dish...

You will need: (4 pax)

300 g of Carnoli rice

200 g Boletus (the original recipe of José Avillez he uses Portobello mushrooms)

1 dl White wine 

1 tablespoon of chopped onion

1 coffe spoon of chopped garlic

1 coffe spoon of chopped parsley

hot Chicken stock as needed

50 g of butter

Freshly grated parmesan

Parmesan slivers 

Basil leaves 

Extra virgin Olive oil

Salt & Pepper

Cut the boletus in not very thin slices. Sauté the boletus in a non-stick frying pan with a splash of extra virgin olive oil. Add a pinch of salt, a bit more of olive oil and then the chopped garlic. Season with a little more salt and add the chopped parsley, stir it well and reserve.

In a pan with a drizzle of olive oil, fry the onion in low heat without letting it brown. As soon as the onion is translucent, add the rice, mix it well with the olive oil and refresh with the white wine. Let it evaporate and add a little of the hot chicken stock and when the rice absorbs the stock add a little more.

The most important tip is to keep stirring constantly, Repeat the operation of adding a little of the hot chicken stock until the rice is cooked.

After aprox. 12 minutes, add the mushrooms and continue the previous cooking process till the rice is cooked.

When the risotto is ready add the butter and the greated parmesan, stir well and cover for 30 seconds

Serve it immediately with some Parmesan slivers and basil leaves.

* Recipe from Chef José Avillez book Cantinho do Avillez

A Salad to recover from any excess...

In the northern hemisphere, January is incredibly similar to the late spring months. Despite the different reasons almost everyone is willing for more light meals or even diets...

The recipe this week is a typical example of what I've just wrote . Although we are in the middle of winter in Spain a salad was the perfect way to start recovering from the festive season that just ended and, not least important, to take a few ingredients that were about to go off...

Despite being very similar to a recipe I shared with you before, this week I bring you this salad because this is an example that salads should not be boring, totally the opposite a salad is a perfect way to work your creativity and have fun in the kitchen. Do not forget that sometimes just a small detail may transform your plate and give it a totally different personality. In this case the anchovy brougt that taste of the sea adding more rock & roll than on the previous version .

You will need ( 2 pax ) :

2 diced avocados 

2 diced tomatoes

10 diced anchovy fillets 

a bit of red onion, finely chopped

Shredded Parmesan cheese

salt and extra virgin olive oil

lemon juice

basil

In a cup make a basil vinaigrette with olive oil, lemon juice (3:1), salt and some basil leaves, and set aside.

With the help of a mould, place the diced avocado in the bottom , followed by tomatoes, finally the anchovy fillets and roughly chopped onion. Top it with the grated parmesan , season , and after little more than 5 minutes is ready !