Feeling Like 'Everyday Italian' - Easy Risotto Recipe

Do you know Giada De Laurentiis?

She is an Italian American chef, one of my favorite chef from Food Network.   She somehow makes cooking Italian easy and fun.  That's one reason, why I love preparing Italian dishes at home, which my kids and husband have grown to be fond of.

Last month, when my mother was here, for a short one-month vacation, she took time to cook for us Porcini Risotto.  Both my parents and my two siblings are living and working at Milan, another reason why I knew Italian cuisine and have lots of their products in our pantry.  



I have been posting a lot of restaurant and event reviews lately at Food Trip Friday.   Reading through others' entry, I got quite guilty. Some have gone out and made efforts to prepare the food they shared.

So here's my tribute to all of you guys!   Kind of feeling like Giada De Laurentiis today, so I will be sharing three recipes.   Mushroom Risotto, Ham-stuffed Tortellini with Clams and Mozzerella, Granita with a Filipino twist.

One of the things my mom brought from Italy was the frozen, preserved Porcini Mushrooms

Here are what you need for an authentic (not quite) yet simple Italian rice dish.

Porcini Mushroom Risotto

1.  Saute 1/4 cup of regular rice on 3 TBSP.  olive oil.
2.  Thaw and drain mushrooms and put in the pan.   Make sure you continue stirring so that the rice          doesn't stick to pan.
     You can use also dried "tengang-daga muchroom", but you need to soak it first with water, for at        least 30 minutes before cooking.
3.   Put 1 cup of chicken stock.  Just allow the rice to cook.
4.  Once the rice is almost done, put 1/4 cup of butter.
     Most restaurants where I had these, prefer their risotto to be a bit al dente.  The inside is still                crunchy white, with a starchy texture but the outside is soft and cooked right.
     However, we prefer to have it cooked all the way through.
5.  Before you serve it, you may to season with salt and pepper.
6.  Also, put 1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese, mix thoroughly, then serve.

Ham-stuffed Tortellini

Tortellini are ring-shaped pasta. They are typically stuffed with a mix of meat (pork loin,prosciutto) or cheese.  Originally from the Italian region of Emilia (in particular Bologna and Modena), they are usually served in broth, meat broth, either of beef, chicken, or both. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tortellini)

My aunt, was the one who bought this for me.  My favorite pasta, along with ravioli.  This package however is fresh.   There are many variations found in the local groceries here in Manila, they are the dried ones though, so that, they can be stored in room temps for a long time.   This one however, which I was blessed to have, are tastier and easier to cook, only 1 minute on the pan of boiling water.
You can have it simply with just melted butter or simple tomato sauce.

But let me show you how I prepared it with clams and mozarella.

First, cook the tortellini according to package direction, drain.   Next, put parmesan cheese and butter, mix.   Finally, top with cooked clams and sliced fresh mozzarella.  The clams I used are just left-overs from our previous meal.  You can add in other stuff like meat and other seafood.

For the dessert...

Corn and Coconut Granita, which I learned from Giada's show, Everyday Italian.   This is so refreshing and very easy to make, but requires patience and timing.

See the recipe here: 

http://www.gastronomybyjoy.com/2014/07/corn-and-coconut-granita.html

Happy Cooking Everyone!

Now I'm off to announce the winner of P 1000 Gift Certificate from Chef's Table!

See the contest post here.