Pasta & Rice

20-Minute Italian Your Traditional Favorites, Faster, Easier and with a Modern Twist is a beautifully illustrated cookbook by Andrea Soranidis of The Petite Cook blog, released October 1, 2019.

This gorgeous cookbook is filled with 75 quick and easily made traditional Italian recipes you can enjoy for a quick weekday meal or any special occasion. Each recipe is accompanied by mouth-watering, full-page photographs to entice your taste buds, all made in 20 minutes or less.

There is something to satisfy everyone’s tastes, including vegetarian, gluten-free and dairy-free options.

20-Minute Italian Cookbook Chapters

Andrea has organized 75 mouth-watering recipes broken into the following chapters:

• Quick & Easy Antipasti for All Occasions
• Flashy Pasta & Risotto Dishes to Make on Repeat
• Perfect Meat & Poultry Dishes in No Time
• Exciting Fish & Seafood Mains in a Blink
• Pulses & Grains Ready in Less than 20 Minutes
• Speedy Nutritious Salads
• Effortless Everyday Sides

About the Author

Andrea Soranidis was born and raised in Sicily. She moved to the UK as a young adult and now splits her time between both London and a small town in Germany.

She has spent time traveling the world and developing her culinary style. She is a skilled and award-winning food and travel blogger at The Petite Cook. Her recipes have also been featured in national magazines and websites.

Shiitake Mushroom, Pumpkin & Rosemary Risotto Recipe

This recipe is reprinted with permission from 20-Minute Italian by Andrea Soranidis Page Street Publishing Co. 2019.

Print Recipe

Shiitake Mushroom Pumpkin Rosemary Risotto Recipe

In Northern Italy, risotto is considered a simple, everyday comfort food. For me, it’s something to prepare mostly on special occasions, or for a cozy dinner date with my better half. Among all the risotto recipes I’ve made over the years, this is probably my favorite. When pumpkin and mushroom season finally hits, I make this risotto on repeat! Any kind of mushrooms will work here; I like to use fresh shiitake mushrooms because they can be found easily at the market and vaguely remind me of delicious, hard-to-find, expensive Italian porcini mushrooms. A mix of wild and porcini mushrooms would work well too.

Cook Time20 mins

Total Time20 mins

Course: Entree

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: 4

Author: Andrea Soranidis

Ingredients

• 4 cups vegetable stock
• 2 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
• 1 shallot finely minced
• 5 oz shiitake or wild mushrooms roughly chopped
• 5 oz muscat or Hokkaido pumpkin flesh finely cubed
• sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
• 10.5 oz vialone nano or carnoroli rice
• 1/4 cup white wine good quality
• 3 tbsp Parmesan cheese grated
• 1 tbsp butter good quality

Instructions

• Heat a small pan with the extra-virgin olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the shallot, mushrooms and pumpkin and sauté gently for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with sea salt and black pepper.
• In the meantime, heat a large pan over low heat. Add the rice and toast it for 2 to 3 minutes, or until it has turned translucent, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon to avoid burning it. Add the wine, turn up the heat to medium-high and allow it to evaporate. Return the heat to medium-low, then pour in one ladle of stock, and allow the rice to absorb it. Season with salt to taste.
• Stir the sautéed vegetables into the pan with the risotto, and continue to cook, gradually adding in stock and whisking constantly with a whisk until the rice is soft but still has a bite, about 15 minutes.
• Remove the risotto from the heat, add in the Parmesan cheese, butter and rosemary, then shake the pan vigorously to combine all the ingredients. The risotto should reach a smooth consistency.
• Divide the risotto among plates, and serve it immediately.

Notes

Tip: I like this risotto less creamy than the classic risotto, but if you want it super gooey and rich, add an extra pat or two of butter. If you have a hard time finding muscat pumpkin, substitute with Hokkaido pumpkin.

Disclaimer

The 20-Minute Italian Your Traditional Favorites, Faster, Easier and with a Modern Twist cookbook was sent to me by Page Street Publishing Co. for review.  The opinions are my own. As an Amazon affiliate, I receive a small fee whenever you purchase products though links listed in this post. This will not affect the amount of the item. I only include links to products that would benefit my readers.