Slowly cooked risotto is deliciously creamy and comforting especially on a crisp cold day in January. After the costly pinch of Christmas its great to have a few dishes that are easy on the pocket yet packed of flavour.
This is a plant based version, made with plant based butter and cheese.
Sweet Irish leeks are one of my favourite vegetables and they are the perfect partner to vitamin D rich Irish mushrooms in this one pot meal.
Gradually adding hot stock to the rice will create a perfect bowl of risotto. It’s always worth the effort.
Let us know if you try it we love to hear from you.
Lou x
Ingredients: serves 4
- 1 punnet, 250g chestnut mushrooms, finely diced
- 1 medium leek, cleaned and finely diced
- 1 medium onion, finely diced
- 4 cloves of garlic, grated or finely chopped
- 250g arborio risotto rice
- 1 litre of hot vegetable stock (substitute 100ml stock for dry white wine if you wish)
- juice 1/2 a lemon
- A big knob of butter (30g), use dairy or non dairy
- 1 tbsp. Nutritional yeast
- Salt, pepper and olive oil
- grated firm cheese to finish, use dairy or non dairy
- optional topping: a handful of chopped fresh parsley
Method:
Method:
Step 1: Heat 1 litre of stock in a pan and bring to a boil.
Step 2: Meanwhile, in another pan, sautè the diced onion for 5 minutes in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and then add in the diced leeks and cook to soften. Next add the grated garlic and mushrooms cook for a further 10-15 minutes until cooked through.
Step 3: Stir through the rice. (If you want to add white wine add it now) Pour in a ladle of stock, stir gently and once all the liquid has been absorbed, pour in another ladle and repeat until the rice is al dente, or cooked to your liking. Continue stirring the rice so the starch is released and it becomes creamy.
Step 4: Stir through the nutritional yeast, butter, grate in some firm cheese and finish with lemon juice. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.
Serve with fresh chopped parsley, black cracked pepper and a good extra virgin olive oil.
