Porcini Broth Recipes

PORTOBELLO AND PORCINI BROTH

Steps:

• Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the carrot, celery and onion; cook, stirring occasionally, until just golden, about 5 minutes. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, the portobellos and herbs; cook, stirring, until the mushrooms release their juices, about 4 minutes. Increase the heat to high; cook until the mushrooms brown, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Add the wine and cook to reduce, about 1 minute. Add the porcini, peppercorns, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 12 cups water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook until reduced by about one-third, 25 to 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, cook the tortelloni as the label directs. Drain; skewer on toothpicks.
• Strain the broth through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing on the solids. Skim any excess fat from the surface. Season with salt. Serve with the tortelloni and sprinkle with parmesan.

WILD MUSHROOM RAVIOLI IN PORCINI BROTH

Steps:

• Bring 3 cups water to boil in medium saucepan. Add porcini. Remove from heat; let soak until mushrooms are soft, about 20 minutes. Place strainer over medium bowl; line strainer with cheesecloth. Strain mushroom soaking liquid (reserve mushrooms for another use).
• Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots; reduce heat to medium-low and sauté until shallots are soft, about 5 minutes. Add mushroom soaking liquid, then chicken broth, wine, Sherry, salt, and pepper; bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 5 minutes. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Bring to simmer before using.
• Cook ravioli in large saucepan of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite. Drain. Add ravioli to hot mushroom broth; ladle into bowls. Sprinkle with green onion tops and serve.

TORTELLINI IN PORCINI BROTH

Steps:

• If you haven't soaked the Porcini in advance (see note below) set combine Porcini and water in a saucepan and bring to a simmer; let soak for 20 minutes or until tender. Drain soaked Porcini, rinse them to remove grit; and chop them. Strain the soaking liquid through non-bleached paper towel or cotton cheesecloth-lined sieve; reserve for later.
• Heat the olive oil in a saucepan. When hot add chopped soaked Porcini and saute for a few seconds. Add the fresh mushrooms, cover and cook over very low heat until mushrooms are tender (if they begin to stick to the bottom of the pan, add a few spoonfuls of mushroom soaking liquid). Add reserved Porcini liquid and broth and bring to a simmer; add tortellini and cook, uncovered for 5 minutes or until tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper and portion out; garnish with chives.
• NOTE - to soak mushrooms in advance; cover 2 ounces of dried mushrooms with 1 quart of water; set in refrigerator overnight or for longer; remove soaked mushrooms and soaking liquid as needed.

PORCINI BROTH

Steps:

• Put all ingredients in a sauce pan. Cover with 4 cups water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain. Broth may be made in advance and will keep a week, refrigerated.

RED-WINE POT ROAST WITH PORCINI

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300°F. Bring broth to simmer in saucepan. Remove from heat; add mushrooms, cover, and let stand until soft, about 15 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer mushrooms to cutting board. Chop coarsely. Reserve mushrooms and broth separately.
• Sprinkle beef with salt and pepper. Heat oil in heavy large ovenproof pot over medium-high heat. Add beef and cook until brown on all sides, about 15 minutes total. Transfer beef to large plate. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon drippings from pot. Place pot over medium heat. Add onion and celery. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and sauté until beginning to brown, about 8 minutes. Add garlic, chopped marjoram, and reserved porcini mushrooms; sauté 1 minute. Using hands, crush tomatoes, 1 at a time, into pot. Cook 3 minutes, stirring frequently and scraping up browned bits from bottom of pot. Add wine; boil 5 minutes. Add reserved mushroom broth, leaving any sediment behind. Boil 5 minutes.
• Return beef and any accumulated juices to pot. Cover; transfer to oven. Cook 1 1/2 hours. Turn beef and continue cooking until tender, about 1 1/2 hours longer. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Cool slightly. Refrigerate uncovered until cool. Cover and keep refrigerated.)
• Transfer beef to cutting board; tent with foil. Spoon fat from surface of juices in pot. Bring juices to boil; cook until liquid is reduced to 4 cups, about 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
• Cut beef into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Transfer to platter. Spoon juices over, garnish with marjoram sprigs, and serve.

MUSHROOM TORTELLINI IN MUSHROOM BROTH

Steps:

• Prepare vegetables for stuffing and broth:
• Pour boiling-hot water over porcini in a bowl and let stand until softened, about 20 minutes. Lift out porcini, squeezing excess liquid back into bowl, and rinse to remove any grit. Finely chop porcini. Pour soaking liquid through a sieve lined with a dampened paper towel into another bowl and reserve.
• Trim leek, reserving about 5 inches of green leaves, and rinse greens well. Halve rest of leek lengthwise, then rinse well under cold water and pat dry. Coarsely chop greens and finely chop white and pale green parts, reserving greens separately.
• Finely grate enough cheese to measure 1/4 cup, then cut off and reserve rind. Reserve remaining piece of cheese.
• Make filling for tortellini:
• Pulse cremini caps, shiitake caps, 1/3 cup chopped porcini, white and pale green parts of leek, garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a food processor until finely minced.
• Heat butter in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderate heat until foam subsides, then cook mushroom mixture, stirring constantly, until liquid mushrooms give off is evaporated and mushrooms are golden, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and cool completely. Stir in 1/4 cup grated cheese, 1 tablespoon parsley, and salt and pepper to taste.
• Make broth:
• Tuck parsley and thyme sprigs into celery and tie together tightly with string to make a bouquet garni. Bring cold water, beef broth, bouquet garni, cracked peppercorns, cremini stems, shiitake stems, leek greens, remaining chopped porcini, porcini soaking liquid, cheese rind, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt to a simmer in a 3-quart heavy saucepan, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and cook at a bare simmer, partially covered, 45 minutes.
• Pour broth through a large sieve lined with a double thickness of rinsed and squeezed cheesecloth (or dampened paper towels) into a large bowl, pressing on and discarding solids. Return broth to saucepan.
• Roll out pasta and form tortellini:
• Set smooth rollers of pasta maker at widest setting. Cut pasta dough into 4 pieces and keep 3 pieces covered. Flatten unwrapped piece of dough into a rectangle and feed through rollers. Fold rectangle in half and feed through rollers 8 more times, folding in half each time and dusting with flour as necessary to prevent sticking.
• Turn dial to next (narrower) setting and feed dough through without folding. Continue to feed dough through without folding, making space between rollers narrower each time, until narrowest setting is used. (Cut sheet of dough in half if it gets too long.)
• Cut out as many rounds as possible from sheet with cookie cutter (reserve trimmings for another use, such as chicken noodle soup). Transfer rounds in 1 layer to a lightly floured wax-paper-lined baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap.
• Working with 5 pasta rounds at a time, put 1/4 teaspoon filling in center of each round, keeping remaining rounds covered tightly with plastic wrap. Moisten edges of filling-topped rounds with a fingertip dipped in water and fold in half, letting bottom edge protrude slightly beyond top edge, then press top edge to bottom half to seal. Holding straight edge of half-moon against nail of your little finger, wrap half-moon around fingertip (which will cause curved edge to flip up), overlapping corners and pinching to seal. Transfer tortellini to a dry kitchen towel (not terry cloth).
• Roll out and cut remaining dough and make more tortellini in same manner, working with 1 piece at a time.
• Cook tortellini:
• Bring broth to a boil and season with salt and pepper. Add tortellini and cook at a strong simmer, stirring gently once or twice, until tender, 3 to 5 minutes.
• Ladle broth with 8 to 10 tortellini per person into bowls and serve remaining piece of Parmigiano-Reggiano on the side for grating.

PORCINI MUSHROOM SOUP

Steps:

• Soak porcini in 2 cups hot water 15 minutes.
• Cook onion in butter with 1 teaspoon salt in a heavy medium pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onion is golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Add celery, carrot, and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes.
• Transfer porcini with a slotted spoon to pot and strain soaking liquid through a fine-mesh sieve into a large glass measure. Add white mushrooms to pot with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Cook, stirring, until mushrooms are tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, remaining 6 cups water, and porcini-soaking liquid. Simmer, partially covered, 30 minutes.
• Purée 1 cup vegetables and 1 cup liquid in a blender (use caution when blending hot liquids), then return to pot. Stir in parsley, dill, and salt to taste.

MUSHROOM AND DRIED PORCINI SOUP

Steps:

• Place the dried porcinis in a bowl or a pyrex measuring cup and cover with 2 cups boiling water. Let sit for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, wipe the fresh mushrooms, trim away the bottoms if they're sandy, break off the stems and set them aside. Set aside the caps in a separate bowl.
• Drain the porcinis through a cheesecloth-lined strainer set over a bowl. Squeeze over the strainer to extract as much flavorful liquid as possible and set aside the broth. Rinse the mushrooms in several changes of water. Measure the mushroom soaking water and add water to make 2 cups.
• In a soup pot or a large saucepan, combine the mushroom soaking liquid, the chicken or vegetable stock, the soaked porcinis, fresh mushroom stems, garlic, tomatoes, and 1 teaspoon salt, and bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer over very low heat for 1 hour. Strain the soup and return to the saucepan. Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.
• Slice the fresh mushroom caps paper-thin, toss with a couple of drops of lemon juice, and add to the soup pot. Heat through for 5 minutes.
• If garnishing with the garlic croutons, top them with Parmesan and place in a hot oven or toaster until the Parmesan has melted. Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish each bowl with chopped fresh chives and a crouton or two if desired.

PORCINI RISOTTO

Steps:

• Soak dried porcini in 3 cups water until rehydrated, about an hour. Strain the mushrooms, reserving the broth for the risotto. (Discard the last 1/2 inch of the liquid; it will contain dirt from the porcini.) Roughly chop the mushrooms, then set aside. When you're ready, heat the chicken stock and mushroom broth to a simmer.
• Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat; add onion and season with salt and pepper; add garlic and cook until slightly translucent. Add rice and stir to coat with the oil; season with salt and pepper and cook until slightly translucent. Add wine and stir until almost all the liquid has cooked off. Add hot stock and broth mixture, a ladleful at a time, completely stirring in the liquid each time. Keep adding broth as needed so there is always a 1/4-inch liquid layer over the rice.
• After 15 to 20 minutes, the rice should be close to al dente. Add the mushrooms, then the sage (leaving some for garnish), stirring vigorously. Taste and adjust seasoning. Remove from heat and stir in butter, then cheese. Serve immediately.
• To serve, spoon into shallow bowls, shave some Parmesan on top, then garnish with remaining sage.