Tag: cepe

Risotto with Porcini

20 November 2025

Risotto is amongst our favourite dishes, especially risotto with mushrooms. Preparing risotto is not difficult, as long as you pay attention to the cooking process and use the right ingredients.
It’s nearly the end of the porcini-season. We enjoyed them several times this year, but not yet in a risotto. Time to start cooking!

Wine Pairing

We enjoyed a nicely oaked, buttery South African chardonnay with our risotto with porcini. A full-bodied white wine with aromas of tropical fruit and toast. A wine that paired very well with the earthiness of the risotto and its rich flavours.

What You Need
  • 90 grams of Carnaroli or Arborio rice
  • 1 Shallot
  • Olive Oil
  • 150 grams of fresh Porcini
  • Chicken or Vegetable Stock
  • Parmesan Cheese
  • Butter
  • Black Pepper
What You Do
  1. Peel and chop the shallot
  2. Clean the porcini
  3. Slice the porcini; cube smaller parts
  4. Warm the stock
  5. Add olive oil to a pan and glaze the shallot
  6. Add the smaller parts of the porcini
  7. Add the rice to the pan and coat for 2 minutes
  8. Keep the pan on medium heat; be patient
  9. Start adding stock, spoon by spoon and stir frequently
  10. Heat a heavy iron skillet and fry the sliced porcini in butter and oil
  11. In total it may take 15 – 18 minutes before the rice is al dente
  12. 5 Minutes before the risotto is al dente, coarsely cut some of the fried porcini, making sure you have a few nice slices for decoration
  13. Add the coarsely cut and fried porcini to the risotto
  14. When the risotto is ready, transfer the pan to the kitchen countertop and leave to rest for 2 minutes.
  15. Add grated Parmesan cheese and combine
  16. Add butter and combine
  17. Add some black pepper, taste, add more Parmesan cheese and/or butter if so required.
  18. Decorate with slices of porcini
  19. Serve immediately.
PS

We have four other risotto recipes, with squid, with beetroot, with mushrooms and with peas.

Risotto with Porcini is a delicious combination of creamy, rich rice and nutty, umami flavours. Risotto is not difficult to make if you use the right ingredienst and follow the instruction.
Risotto with Porcini ©cadwu

Mushroom Balls

6 March 2025

We were asked to prepare a vegetarian main dish for a buffet style dinner. We immediately knew what we wanted to cook: mushroom balls and oven baked vegetables. Tasty and colourful. Could we make it gluten free? Which in this case means not adding breadcrumbs to the mushroom mixture, so we needed to think about an alternative. We tried well cooked rice, but that didn’t do the trick. Next idea was to blender the rice and make a very sticky paste. It did what we hoped it would do: the mushrooms balls are firm, but not dense. Great! Plus, they go very well with the vegetables!

Wine Pairing

We enjoyed a glass of French Malbec with the Mushroom Balls. In general you’re looking for a long, full bodied red wine, smooth, with hints of berries and ripe dark fruit.

What You Need
  • 25 grams of dried Porcini
  • 150 grams of fresh Mushrooms (Button Mushrooms, Shiitake)
  • 1 Shallot
  • 2 cloves of Garlic
  • 1 sprig of fresh Oregano
  • 2 sprigs of Thyme
  • 1 sprig of Rosemary
  • 1 sprig of Sage
  • 40 grams of Rice
  • ½ beaten Egg
  • Parmesan Cheese
  • Black Pepper
What You Do
  1. Boil the rice in water (with a pinch of salt) or in vegetable stock for 40 minutes. The rice should be thoroughly cooked.
  2. Soak the dried mushrooms in hot water for 30 minutes. Drain and check for sand.
  3. Chop the shallot and fry in oil until translucent.
  4. Clean the fresh mushrooms, chop, add to the pan and fry on a higher heat.
  5. When the mushrooms are somewhat fried, add the chopped garlic for five minutes. Be careful not to colour the garlic.
  6. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and allow to cool.
  7. Chop the soaked mushrooms. Add to the mixture.
  8. Use a kitchen knife to chop all herbs and then add these to the mixture.
  9. Blender half of the rice until it’s a sticky paste.
  10. Add remaining rice, paste and a relatively large amount of pepper to the mixture.
  11. Beat ½ egg and grate a generous amount of Parmesan Cheese.
  12. Add cheese and egg to the mixture.
  13. Pulse with a blender. The mixture should have granularity.
  14. Taste and add pepper and/or Parmesan if necessary.
  15. Allow the mixture to cool and transfer to the refrigerator.
  16. Preheat the oven to 180 °C or 355 °F.
  17. Use your hands to make balls, line a rack with baking paper and place the balls on the paper.
  18. Bake for 15-25 minutes until the balls are slightly coloured and firm.
  19. Allow to cool and leave for a few hours at room temperature.
  20. Preheat oven to 160 °C or 320 °F.
  21. Bake mixed, chopped vegetables (beetroot, parsnips, sweet potato, potato, butternut squash, parsley root, kohlrabi) by placing them in a large oven dish with plenty of olive oil and sprigs of rosemary, thyme, sage, marjoram in the oven for 20 minutes under aluminium foil at 160 °C or 320 °F and then 15-20 minutes at 180 °C or 355 °F without foil.
  22. Warm the mushroom balls in the oven in a separate oven dish.
  23. Combine just before serving.
  24. If gluten are okay, use half the rice (no need to make the sticky paste) and add breadcrumbs. The mixture will firmer and drier, so perhaps use 1 egg.
PS

This recipe is for two. The picture shows the result of the recipe times 2.

 
Mushroom Balls ©cadwu
Mushroom Balls ©cadwu

Cèpes, Lentils and Duck

23 November 2023

Let’s celebrate the season by preparing a very simple, tasty starter with cèpes, the all-time favourite mushroom of many people. It is great when fried in olive oil with garlic and parsley, wonderful in a risotto and equally tasty when prepared à la Bordelaise. This starter is a bit more complex. It combines the nutty, rustic flavour of lentils with the fatty richness of foie gras and smokiness. The dish is a true appetizer.

Wine Pairing

We would suggest a white wine with some floral notes and only a touch of sweetness. A pinot gris or perhaps a gewürztraminer? Sweetness will go very well with the foie gras and the smoked duck, but it’s not a great match with the cèpes.

We could also imagine opening a bottle of Arbois Savagnin 2018. This complex, white wine is made from the Savagnin grape and is produced in the far east of France, the Jura. It comes with aromas that will make you think of nuts, curry and even umami. When tasting it, you may think the wine is off, given it is slightly oxidized. In this case it’s a good thing. Enjoy the savoury, nutty taste of the wine in combination with the various flavours in the dish.

What You Need

  • 150 grams of Cèpes
  • Du Puy Lentils (from Sabarot)
  • Smoked Breast of Duck
  • Terrine de Foie Gras de Canard
  • Neutral Oil (we used Avocado Oil)
  • Butter
  • Black Pepper

What You Do

Remove the smoked breast of duck from the refrigerator. Wash the lentils and cook for some 20 minutes. Drain and allow to cool. Add one or two teaspoons of oil, to coat the lentils and enhance their flavour. Add some black pepper. Clean the mushrooms and slice. Not too thin, the idea is to have a moist mushroom with a thin crust.  Fry the mushrooms in butter. Plate up by making a circle of lentils and decorate with slices of smoked duck, cèpes and very thin slices of terrine.

Cèpes, Lentils and Duck ©cadwu
Arbois Savagnin

PS

Avocado oil seems a bit exotic, but actually it has a very high smoking point so it’s great for frying and baking. When used in a salad, you will notice the oil is light and fresh.