Creamy Bulgur with Porcini mushrooms
I discovered Bulgur in the Netherlands when I was grocery shopping in a Turkish deli and since I’ve never seen it nor heard of it in Italy I immediately decided to buy it.
I then did some research online to find out how it’s usually cooked and I discovered that it’s actually pretty similar to cous-cous. It’s wheat just like pasta and I cooked it with summer vegetables and herbs and it quickly became one of my favorite summer dishes. See the recipe of Summertime Bulgur with veggies.
Bulgur can be found in different variaties of sizes and I bought the coarser grind called pilavlık bulgur which is just a tad smaller than rice, so I though “hey! Maybe I can do a risotto with it.. A Bulgur-otto!” which sounds silly but it came out pretty delicious.
It can’t turn out as creamy as risotto simply because Bulgur doesn’t have as much starch as Risotto rice (Carnaroli). But with the addition of a few tablespoons of cream it just came out creamy enough for me to love it.
- 150g (1/2 cup) Bulgur
- 1 Garlic clove
- 20g (3/4 oz.) Dried Porcini mushrooms - or 100g (3 1/2 oz) of Fresh Porcini
- 350ml (1 1/2 cup) Vegetable Stock
- 4 tbsp Cooking Cream
- 1/2 glass White Wine
- 2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
- Olive oil
- Butter
- Hot water
- Parsley
- Put the dried mushrooms in a bowl and cover with hot water. Set aside until they become soft, about 20-25 minutes.
- Drain the mushrooms from the water and squeeze them to remove the liquid in excess.
- Heat the olive oil in a medium pot and add the halved garlic clove. Chop the mushrooms and add them in the pot together with the Bulgur.
- Stir with a wooden spoon and after 1-2 minutes pour the white wine and let it evaporate completely.
- Now add a couple of ladles of hot stock to the Bulgur, stir frequently and when the liquid is completely absorbed, add more stock. Repeat until the Bulgur is cooked and soft (About 15 minutes).
- Turn off the heat and add the chopped parsley, a knob of butter, the cooking cream and the Parmesan cheese. Stir well and serve.
