Risotto with sausage and mushrooms

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 10 g dried porcini mushrooms or 100 g fresh
• possibly water for soaking
• ½ onion(s)
• 150 g pork sausage, thick, filled with coarse sausage meat
• 20 g butter
• 180g risotto
• ½ jar white wine
• 1 liter of broth or hot water
• 1 sachet of saffron powder
• 30 g Parmesan
• salt and pepper

Instructions

Working time approx. 15 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 40 minutes; Total time approx. 55 minutes

Risotto with Luganega and Funghi. A dish from Monza in Lombardy.

Soak 10g of dried porcini mushrooms in warm water for half an hour. Finely chop 1/2 of an onion. Skin the sausages and cut into pieces approximately 1 x 1cm. You can also skin the sausages and shred them with a fork. Melt 20g of butter in a saucepan over medium heat and briefly sauté the onion. Then increase the heat and fry the sausages, turning occasionally. When the mixture has taken on some color, add the rice and fry for half a minute. Then deglaze with half a glass of white wine to loosen the sediment. Remove the soaked porcini mushrooms and chop them finely. Add the porcini mushrooms to the rice along with the soaking water and saffron. Once the rice has absorbed the liquid, add a ladleful of stock to the rice, stirring occasionally. This is the only way to achieve the creamy consistency characteristic of a good risotto. Cook the rice over low heat. Make sure the rice doesn’t stick. Whenever the rice has absorbed the broth, add more broth. Cook the risotto over low heat for 20-30 minutes, depending on the type of rice, until the rice is tender but still firm to the bite. Grate the Parmesan cheese and mix it into the risotto. Season with salt and pepper. Turn off the heat and let the risotto simmer, covered, for a few more minutes. In Monza, this dish is prepared with a sausage (Luganega di Monza) seasoned with Parmesan cheese.