This exquisite vegetable variety contains a nutty, earthy flavour, making porcinis the perfect addition to a selection of meals. We love porcini mushrooms at Fine Food Specialist, and head chef Drogo Montagu has created some beautiful porcini recipes over the years which incorporate this excellent mushroom type.
Our latest blog gives you the lowdown on why porcini mushrooms are a sought-after culinary product, and how you can use them in your kitchen. Take a look.
What are Porcini Mushrooms?
Porcinis - or to give them their Latin name, Boletus Edulis - are a type of wild mushroom found throughout the Northern Hemisphere. With a rich and memorable flavour, they are also a healthy comfort food option, and a commonly selected ingredient for many pasta dishes, risottos, and soups.
Why are Porcini Popular?
To be quite blunt about it, the main reason for the popularity of porcinis is that they are delicious! But they are also a flexible type of cooking vegetable, with fresh porcini and frozen porcini offering subtle variations on the overall earthy, evocative flavouring. The flavour isn’t the only benefits of porcini mushrooms. They’re also remarkably healthy. Rich in proteins, dietary fibres, vitamins and minerals, porcinis can be enjoyed without any concerns over whether they’re actually good for you or not.
How Do You Cook Them?
Different types of porcini mushrooms call for different cooking methods. Dried porcini mushrooms should be softened in boiling water for approximately 15 minutes, while fresh porcini mushrooms are a really adaptable form.
Fresh porcini mushrooms can be fried, grilled and even stewed, allowing new experiences and dishes to be crafted featuring this vegetable. Because the picking season for porcini mushrooms is quite short, often frozen porcini mushrooms are a better option. This allows you to enjoy the flavours of porcinis all year round. Once defrosted, porcinis can be cooked as mentioned above and enjoyed by all.
Drogo’s Favourite Porcini Recipes
As an experienced chef, Drogo knows exactly what hits the sport with the luxury food varieties we offer at Fine Food Specialist. And our porcini range is no different. Porcinis go remarkably well with varieties of red meat such as pork (yes, pork is technically red meat!).
In fact, we recently created a video for a delicious recipe of Iberico Belotta Pork Chops with Padron Peppers and Porcini Mushrooms. You can watch Drogo prepare this delightful meal here.
But if you want a meal with these flavours front and centre, take a look at this guide on how to make the perfect Porcini risotto. This fabulous Porcini mushroom recipe can really help you embrace Porcinis like never before and create an exceptional meal for you and three others.
Our full porcini risotto recipe gives you all the details you need to create this awesome dish, so take a look, and get cooking.
You can also fry fresh porcini mushrooms for a delicious quick meal. Cooking with olive oil on medium heat, throw your thinly-sliced fresh porcinis into the pan and stir fry for around 10 minutes. You can chuck garlic or butter, and season with salt and pepper to add a really beautiful dish to your dinner options.
To make a very indulgent porcini pasta: add freshly cooked pasta (we chose truffle tagliatelle), a generous splash of the starchy pasta water, a little butter and fresh parsley and combine - delicious! We have a superb array of porcini mushroom products for you to choose from, with fresh, frozen and dried varieties available to purchase from our online store.
You can find these and more mushroom selections at Fine Food Specialist. And if you have any questions about our offering, get in touch with our expert team. We will happily point you in the right direction.
