Risotto with Speck, Porcini and Taleggio Cheese

Deliciously creamy risotto, with an amazing combination of Italian ingredients cooked in red wine!

Today was the end of my giveaway! And the lucky winner of a new set of silicone baking mats from Kitchen Executive Chef is:

Allison C.

Congratulation Allison on your win! I will shortly contact you by email.
Thank you all for your entries, and a special thank you to Kitchen Executive Chef for the generous gift!!

And for tonight, no cooking for me :-)
My mother-in-law has been visiting from Italy, and today is her turn in the kitchen. She suggested this deliciously yummy risotto for dinner. So all I'm doing is sit back and relax! Well, not quite. I do need to write down the recipe, which I've never prepared before, and take lots of picture for this post. I definitely want to share with you this super tasty risotto!

Speck, porcini  mushrooms and taleggio cheese are common ingredients in Italy. You would find them in any grocery store. Here, not so much. So in order to prepare this dish, you may have to search around a bit. But I promise: when you taste it, this risotto will be well worth your time and effort!
If you live in the Los Angeles area, you can find dried porcini mushrooms and speck, which is a smoked type of prosciutto, at Guidi Marcello, Ltd. (1649 10th street in Santa Monica). Here is an interesting article about the store.
Bay Cities Italian Deli in Santa Monica also sells dried porcini and taleggio cheese. Don't forget to buy the arborio rice for the risotto! And while you are there, make sure to try their bread. Freshly baked, still warm and always delicious!!


Note: I recently added a printable version of my recipes (see right under here!) which only has the ingredients and step-by-step directions. No pictures, and no extra blah blah blah. :-)

Ingredients: serving 4                                                             Printable recipe

• half onion, finely chopped
• 5 oz of speck, cut in small cubes
• 0.5 oz of dried porcini mushrooms
• 0.5 lb of Taleggio cheese (or Robiola cheese)
• 1 cup of red wine
• 1.5 cups of Arborio rice
• 2 cups of vegetable stock (or water if you don't have any)
• 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• salt to taste

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Directions:
Step 1: Soak the dried porcini mushrooms in warm water for 10 minutes or until you are ready to use them.

Step 2: In a large skillet, saute' the chopped onion in the olive oil for a few minutes.

Step 3: Stir in the rice, and after a minute add the red wine. Cook for about 7 minutes, adding stock (or water) when necessary.

Step 4: Add the porcini mushrooms, drained and cut in pieces. Cook for 5 more minutes, adding more stock or water when the rice is dry.

Step 5: Add the speck cut in cubes and cook the risotto until ready al dente, should be an additional 5 minutes or so. Adjust with salt if necessary.

Step 6: At this point, stir in the taleggio cheese. Mix well and let the risotto sit off the stove for a couple of minutes, before serving.

Buon Appetito!