Both fresh and dried porcini mushrooms are prized in Italian and French cooking. These popular mushrooms also called king bolete or cèpe in French, grow naturally at the base of pine trees in Europe, North America, and some parts of Asia. In central Europe, autumn is porcini season, and most of the carefully picked harvest is dried to be used or sold later. Gourmet chefs love fresh porcini mushrooms, which can be sautéed and served as a side dish or added to risotto and pasta. Dried porcini mushrooms give broths and stews a rich flavor.
The caps of porcini mushrooms are brown, and the stems are thick and white. The caps can be anywhere from an inch to almost a foot long, but most of the ones found are only a few inches long. When the caps are young, they have a convex shape that makes them look like the perfect mushroom. All they need is a quick clean before they can be used. Porcini mushrooms can be expensive because they are used in high-end cooking, they only grow for a short time, and they are hard to grow. Depending on how good they are, a pound of fresh porcini costs between $30 and $60, while dried porcini costs a little less.
What are Porcini Mushrooms?
People like porcini mushrooms because they are big and have a unique taste. The word “porcini” comes from the Italian word for “piglet.” It is sometimes used to refer to more than one type of Boletus mushroom, but it is usually used to refer to Boletus edulis. Some parts of Europe, Asia, and North America are where these mushrooms come from. They can be used in many different ways in almost any dish that calls for mushrooms. People pick porcinis from the wild, and you can usually only get them fresh in the area where they grow.
They are pretty easy to tell apart from other mushrooms because of their size and color. Porcini are brown or brownish-red and grow to a height of 12 inches (30 cm) with caps that are 14 inches (35 cm) in diameter. Their heavy weight is partly due to their dense texture. Porcini mushrooms can get as heavy as 6.6 pounds (3 kg), but smaller ones are better for cooking. Porcini’s don’t have gills like most mushrooms do. Instead, their spores are spread by tubes on the underside of their caps.
This mushroom must be cooked before it can be eaten because eating it raw can upset your stomach. Chefs put butter on porcini mushrooms and grill, sauté, or cook them with other ingredients in a recipe. These mushrooms are very useful because you can boil, fry, or bake them. They are a common ingredient in many Italian dishes and add flavor to soups and salads. Because their caps are so big, they are great for making stuffed mushrooms.
Porcini grow on the ground in hardwood forests, usually near pines, hemlocks, and chestnut trees. They are ready to be picked in the summer and fall. These mushrooms live in harmony with the tree roots near which they grow, and attempts to grow them commercially have not been very successful. Fresh porcini can sometimes be found at farmer’s markets or roadside stands. In Italy, picking these mushrooms requires a special permit because they are picked so often.
Stewed Fresh Porcini Mushrooms Recipe
Funghi porcini are Italy’s most valuable wild mushrooms because of their meaty texture, strong flavor, and strong, earthy smell. When they are fresh, they are a delicious treat. You can grill them, put them on pizza, use them to make sauces, and more. We give you three ways to cook these tasty mushrooms: on the grill, in the pan or in a stew.
This easy recipe for stewed porcini mushrooms can be used as a pasta sauce, a side dish for a hearty main dish (like steak or roast beef), or a topping for crostini, an antipasto appetizer. The other ways to cook porcini mushrooms, like grilling and frying, are in the tips section below this recipe. In Tuscany, where there are a lot of porcini mushrooms, they are often sautéed with nepitella, or Restuccia, a type of wild mint. Since you might not be able to find it anywhere else, you can use fresh thyme or just flat-leaf parsley instead.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- Two cloves of garlic, finely minced or crushed
- One tablespoon of fresh thyme, parsley leaves, or nepitella
- 1 pound porcini mushrooms, cleaned and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices, stems, and caps
- One medium plum tomato, diced
- 1 to 2 tablespoons white wine or broth
- Salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- Fresh parsley leaves, for garnish
Steps to Make it
- Gather the ingredients.
- Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a pan with a heavy bottom.
- In the olive oil, cook the garlic, thyme, parsley, or nepitella for 1 to 2 minutes or until the garlic turns pale gold.
- Add the mushrooms, turn up the heat to high, and cook, stirring, until the mushrooms have given off their water.
- Turn down the heat, add the tomato, and let it cook for about 30 minutes (this gives the tomato the time it requires to cook down into the sauce). If the mushrooms start to dry, sprinkle white wine or broth on them.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Garnish with fresh parsley. Serve and enjoy.
Another Way to Stew Porcini
Porcini can also be stewed without a tomato called porcini trifoliate. Use parsley instead of nepitella in the cooking, and cook the mushrooms until they have reabsorbed their juices and are soft enough to pierce with a fork. If you want, you can add a splash of white wine. This recipe works with other tasty mushrooms, so feel free to try it with any wild mushrooms you can find in your market, with or without tomato.
How to Fry Porcini Mushrooms?
You can also fry porcini:
Cut them lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices, dredge them in flour (dip them in cool water first, pat them dry, and then dredge them in flour if the flour doesn’t stick), dip them one at a time in cold water just enough to dampen the flour (this makes them crunchier; don’t soak them), and fry them in hot oil until golden brown. Drain on paper towels, sprinkle with salt, and serve as soon as possible.
This will also work well with other kinds of flavorful, meaty mushrooms.
What do Porcini Mushrooms Taste Like?
People often say that porcini mushrooms taste and feel meaty and have a nutty, earthy flavor. They taste like other, more common mushrooms, but their taste is deeper and nuttier. When fresh mushrooms are cooked, they become soft and meaty. When rehydrated, dried porcini give broths or sauces a deep mushroom flavor and a slightly chewy texture.
Porcini Mushroom Recipes
You can sauté, braise, fry, grill, or stew fresh porcini mushrooms. They are often cooked by sautéing to keep their flavor and texture. They are a seasonal treat that can be served as a side dish or added to risotto or pasta. Soaking dried porcini in water makes a broth that can be used in soups and other dishes that call for stock. The rehydrated mushrooms can be chopped and added to dishes.
If you find fresh porcini mushrooms, you can make a simple sauté or put them in risotto. Risotto can also be made with porcini, cremini, or white mushrooms that have been dried. For a barley soup with even more mushrooms, add dried porcini and use some liquid from soaking them instead of some of the broth.
- Sautéed Mushrooms
- Vegetarian Porcini Mushroom Risotto
- Mushroom Barley Soup
Where to Buy Porcini Mushrooms?
Fresh porcini are a treat that lasts only a few weeks in the fall and sometimes again in the late spring. In season, they are sometimes sold by ounce or in small containers at specialty stores and farmers’ markets. You can buy dried porcini at Italian and specialty markets or online all year.
Porcini mushrooms should be firm and have brown caps and white stalks that aren’t broken or nicked. If the undersides of the caps are yellowish-brown, the mushrooms are almost too ripe. They are too ripe if they have black spots or deep green undersides.
If you want dried porcini, don’t buy packages with many small pieces. Most likely, these mushrooms are old and have lost their taste. Also, they should smell like a lot of mushrooms.
How to Store Porcini Mushrooms?
Fresh porcini mushrooms that haven’t been washed should be kept in a paper bag in the crisper of the fridge. You can keep them for a few days, but you shouldn’t wait to cook these valuable mushrooms. It’s best to use them right away. Dried porcini should be kept in the dark, cool (but not cold) place for up to six months in an airtight container.
Porcini vs. Shiitake
Shiitake mushrooms and porcini mushrooms are sometimes mixed up. Both mushrooms are often sold dried and rehydrated so they can be used in soups, sauces, and broths. You can use these if you want a meatier flavor but don’t want to spend as much on dried porcini mushrooms. Shiitake mushrooms taste more like meat and less like dirt than porcini mushrooms, and they cost less.
What is Porcini Mushroom Good for?
Porcini mushrooms are a good source of selenium, copper, potassium, zinc, and B vitamins. All of these minerals are important for a healthy diet. Porcini mushrooms are low in saturated and unsaturated fat and have a lot of fiber. The fiber in your diet helps your digestive system work better, which can help with constipation. Boletus edulis, also called porcini, cep, Steinpilz, or penny bun mushrooms, is a type of mushroom that can be eaten fresh or dried. Porcini mushrooms are used in Italian pasta and rice dishes, soups and sauces, and savory dishes like risotto because of their earthy, meaty taste.
Conclusion
There are hundreds of different kinds of mushrooms in the Amanitaceae family, but only a few are dangerous to people. One of our favorite kinds of mushrooms is the porcini. Because the earthy, rich-tasting mushrooms give any dish, from risotto to soup, a strong, woodsy flavor. Dry porcini can be kept for up to six months in a cool, dark place where air can’t get in. Fresh porcini that haven’t been washed can be kept in the fridge for up to three days in a paper bag. Poisonous mushrooms that might be in the pack of dried porcini mushrooms.
