Creamy Risotto with Sundried Tomatoes (Vegan)
I like to think of risotto as the older, more sophisticated cousin of mac’n’cheese (here comes the hate mail; It was technically invented after, and technically doesn’t require cheese to still be called ‘risotto’, but alas). This creamy and decadent dish capitalizes on the starchiness of arborio rice to create a rich and velvety pilaf that will momentarily silence a dinner table as everyone takes their first bite. The incomparable flavor and texture of this dish does admittedly come at a cost, so pour yourself a glass of wine because you’ll need to be on this dish like…. white on rice (sorry)…. for about 30 minutes, stirring and tasting and stirring and tasting until viola, the miracle of risotto reveals itself.
As I mentioned before, risotto doesn’t technically require cheese to still be called a risotto, but come on. We substitute traditional butter and cheese for their dairyless alternatives in this recipe (which we promise you comes at no expense of flavor), and add in some sun dried tomatoes to take the savory factor to 14/10.
Check out the recipe below!
Yield : 4 servings
Ingredients
1 cup of Arborio rice: we highly recommend this rice due to its high starch content, however, alternatives such as carnaroli or even sushi rice can definitely be used! If you need to venture outside of these options, we just recommend that you find a short-grained rice with a high starch content!
2 tbsp Butter Replacement
1/4 cup Dry White Wine: plus more for you
1 Medium White Onion: very finely chopped; can also use 2 shallots
3 Cloves of Garlic: finely minced
3-5 Sun Dried Tomatoes: finely chopped. These typically come as tomato halves, so 3-5 halves technically.
5 cups of Vegetable Broth: make sure this is well seasoned, it is going to be hydrating the rice so you want as much flavor as possible!
Salt: to taste
Black Pepper: freshly cracked, to taste
2 tbsp Olive Oil
3/4 cup of Parmesan Cheese Replacement: we prefer shaved but grated will work as well
Preparation:
Heat a medium-large pot on medium heat and add your oil
Once the oil is warm, add in your onions and a pinch of salt. Stir every 30 seconds or so until the onions have released much of their water and have clarified (likely 3-6 minutes)
Reduce the heat to medium-low and add your garlic and sundried tomatoes, stirring well to combine. Cook for another 5 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds.
Deglaze the pot with your dry white wine
Add in your rice (unwashed!) and stir well to combine. Cook, stirring every 10-15 seconds for another 3-5 minutes (avoid browning the rice too much)
Now, pour yourself a glass of that white wine because you’ll need to stick around for the 20 or so minutes.
Add 1 cup of your vegetable stock to the pot and stir well. Come back and stir the pot every 30-40 seconds until the liquid has reduced (it shouldn’t have reduced completely, just to the point where its not as “soupy” as it was when you first added it), this may take 3-5 minutes. Continue adding 1 cup of vegetable stock and stirring until it reduces. After the 3rd cup, begin to check your rice, you want the rice to be fully cooked but still hold its structure (it shouldn’t be mushy rice, it should be cooked rice in a thick creamy ‘sauce’). In my attempt, the rice only needed 4 of the 5 cups, but yours may need the whole thing!
Once you’ve finished cooking and stirring the risotto, turn off the heat and add in your butter replacement, stirring well to combine. Then add your cheese once heavy pinch at a time, stirring until no cheese is visible before adding your next heavy pinch. Continue until all of the cheese is incorporated.
Before serving, taste to see if it needs more salt. Then garnish with freshly cracked black pepper, fresh herbs if you have them, and a little extra parmesan if your feeling particularly cheesy.
Enjoy!
Best Practices:
As always:
Avoid packaged produce, or really anything packaged for that matter. This is not to say that you’ll always have the option, but when you do, go for it! For example, you may sometimes see garlic or onions in plastic-mesh. These are all very often available sans any container, so take the opportunity to use your hands, smell the produce, build that relationship with your ingredients!
Try to bring your own bags when you go shopping for these ingredients
Make sure you’re not buying more than you think you’ll reasonably use! Ingredients like the fresh herbs will not last very long, so make sure you buy with care! However, ingredients like onions, garlic, and sun dried tomatoes can last a long time in your pantry (but not forever), so if you buy more than you need, you’ll likely have plenty of other opportunities to use them.
These ingredients have been chosen with several things in mind:
Most of these ingredients are household staples that are relatively inexpensive and last a long time. If you don’t already have white wine or sun dried tomatoes, these are amazing staples in any pantry and can add so much flavor to any number of recipes/dishes.
The risotto can so easily pair with any number of fresh herbs, so we encourage you to try new things and be creative!
This recipe opts for vegan-butter-alternatives and a parmesan cheese alternative, however, you may have access to a sustainable dairy farm local to your town/city, or this may be a special occasion. We encourage you to learn about your local producers and make the right choice for you!
Did you enjoy this recipe? Let us know! If you really loved it, share it on social media and tag us (@groundedgrub), or, better yet, share it with your friends and family!