Over the summer I spent five weeks in Italy sharing a flat with four Non-Vegans. They were rubbish cooks anyway so I became company chef and my specialty (of which there are countless variants) was...
Vegan Risotto
Makes enough for five but is delicious cold the following day
Basic/Lemon & Rocket
500-750g Risotto rice
Onion(s)
Garlic
Dry white wine
Plenty of olive oil
soya milk (or soya cream if you have any)
Vegetable stock (make it yourself or use vegan stock cubes/powder)
Salt
Lemon rind and juice
Rocket
Capers (wonderful in any risotto)
Peas
Chop and gently fry (gentrify!) a large onion or two in the biggest pan you can find. Use three times more olive oil than you would normally use to fry anything and only cook til it begins to soften and then add as much chopped garlic as you can stand*. Heat some water to make up stock while this is going on (you never know how much stock you'll need so be prepared to have an ongoing stock machine as a sideline)
Pour yourself a glass of white wine to consume throughout the process, cooking risotto is a labour intensive business. Then pour another large glass to use in a minute.
Add the rice to the oily onion and stir constantly on a low heat until all the rice is coated and looks translucent, then throw in the glass of wine. It should hiss and bubble and smell lovely as you stir. A pinch of salt can be added here.
It is worth noting at this point that you are now going to be stirring constantly for the next 15-20 minutes so make sure you're not running a bath.
Very gradually add the stock. Just a good splash every couple of minutes. Stir constantly, making sure nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pan. The liquid will become absorbed and then you add a little more. Continue to do this for ages. (10-15 minutes) Try the rice. It should be firm to bite without being hard. When you feel that it is only a few more splashes away from being done then add splashes of soya milk instead of stock. This makes it even more creamy.
If you're doing the Lemon & Rocket one then add the Lemon juice and rind a couple of minutes before it's done. Add cooked peas and capers. Just before you serve stir in lots of rocket -it should wilt slightly but still be a peppery force.
You can add all sorts of things to make variants on this -sweetcorn, pulses, sundried tomatoes, olives and other vegetables.
One nice way of serving is by putting the Risotto in a big bowl and putting salad on top. That way you have to dig down to get to the creamy rice.
Serve with lots of black pepper and the rest of the wine (and more perhaps)
*A recent trick I learnt regarding washing garlic hands. Run your garlic fingers under cold water, do not rub them together -this only ensures you will embalm the garlic further. Then pat dry your hands. Tis better I assure you.
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