A practical guide to the perfect vegan risotto
A step-by-step recipe for a delicious vegan risotto!
One of the dishes I love the most is risotto. It is creamy, rich in colours and aroma. It is a real feast both in terms of taste and how it looks. Since I decided to follow a vegan and eco-friendly lifestyle I noticed that the quality of my risottos had dropped a lot. They were quite disjointed and the risotto I learned to love was only a distant memory.
After much swearing I managed to get a satisfying result. This is why I decided to write a guide to help you make the 100% vegan risotto you have always wanted to have. Here you will find how to make a risotto for 2/3 people.
1. Broth
A good broth is fundamental in order to get the perfect risotto. Add 3 litres of water to a pot and put it on the stove. For the broth I usually use an onion, two celery stalks and a couple of carrots but you can use whatever you like… A great idea is to use the leftovers you have in the kitchen (broccoli stalks, carrot greens, artichokes leftovers, etc.).
Boil everything for about half an hour with a lid, sieve the broth and put it back on the stove on medium.
The broth should not be salted, you add the salt at the end of the risotto!
Regarding the boiled vegetables, you can use them again. You can add a bit of oil and of salt to it and it is good to go. Otherwise, you can use it for more elaborate recipes. I might suggest looking into my other recipes on creative recycling in the kitchen.
2. Toasting
Toasting the rice is a very important part of the process because it allows you to get rice grains that do not break or flake while we cook them. It also gets the rice to release starch more slowly which is the secret to the creamy risotto you desire. There are a variety of schools when it comes to how rice is to be toasted; here I will show you the main ones. They are the Soffritto and Dry ones.
2.1 Dry toasting
You will need two pans, one for toasting and one for the soffritto (a finely minced onion or other vegetable fry-up). In one of the two pans add a small amount of oil and when it warm add half a finely minced onion. Shallots or leek are also fine, it is really just about the type of risotto you are making. Gently fry it and stir. Once the onion has become golden brown, remove the pan from the stove. Make sure it doesn’t burn to a crisp!
The soffritto is now ready, it is time for the rice. A brief preamble, if you will. In my opinion, a good portion of risotto needs at the very least 100 grams per person. Back to the pan, heat it up without oil, add the rice and toast it delicately on medium. The rice should not be burnt it should become slightly translucent.
A perfect toasting takes between 3 and 5 minutes. The rice is toasted when the outside of the grain becomes transparent exposing a white filament inside.
Proceed to add the soffritto you previously made and add wine to it. Both red or white are ok depending on the risotto you are making. You can also try brandy or beer. For this procedure, called “sfumare”, you only need half a glass of wine. The pot must be very hot otherwise the alcoholic content of the wine will not evaporate making the risotto taste like uncooked wine, something we do not want. You will notice the alcohol is gone once the pungent aroma of alcohol is gone.
2.2. Toasting with the soffritto
Get a pan and get the soffritto ready, see above, and once the onion is golden brown add the rice and continue the toasting. Add the wine like previously mentioned above. By doing so the toasting portion of the preparation is much quicker and practical and it allows you not to wash an additional pan. Some purists contend that by doing it so the rice ends up being too wet and it does not become waterproof. This supposedly will break-up the grain.
I do not agree. At any rate the only way to compare is to try both ways and check the results. Toasting is done, let’s move on to cooking.
3. Cooking
Very well, you have come so far. You have toasted rice in one pot and broth in the other. It is time to cook it. Get a wooden spoon and in front of the stove. The broth must always be hot so leave it on the stove on medium heat. Should it get cold once you add it to the rice you will halt the cooking process which will make it less crunchy and it will be closer to boiled rice than risotto.
Cooking time lasts between 14 and 18 minutes even if there are some types of rice that take up to 40/50 minutes. Gradually add broth to the rice and stir gently with a wisk. Unlike wooden spoons it does not break the grains and it helps to whip up the fat and starch. It is now time to add other ingredients if you want them to be well cooked (spinach, mushrooms, etc.) or if you need them to be crunchy, nuts for example, wait a couple of minutes more.
Once you see the rice has absorbed the broth, bit by bit, add more and sample it every now and then until it is cooked. The grain should not be broken and a bit “Al dente” (feel grainy under your teeth).
Turn off the stove.
4. Mantecatura
Mantecatura is the final part and it is necessary to give creaminess to the risotto, make it shiny and inviting.
In order to follow this process, you will need some other type of fat. I usually use olive oil but you can try other types of fat like deodorised coconut oil, almond oil or margarine.
Add a bit of oil and gently stir.
The fat you will add must be cold from the fridge. The thermal shock between the cold fat and the boiling rice is very helpful here. Make sure you add the right quantity. It should not be neither too liquid nor too thick.
If you see it is too thick you can add some of the broth you have left or, like I do, make a cream from some type of vegetable like broccoli, artichokes, pumpkin… anything you like.
Remember to try it and salt it. Let it rest for 2/3 minutes with a lid. Make sure it does not get too cold.
5. Serving
A good dish should not just taste good, it should also look good. Muster up some patience and imagination to serve the risotto in a creative way. You can add toasted seeds, spices, nuts, dried fruit, fried sage.
You can use pastry rings and other kitchen utensils for a better result.
Once you know the whole procedure and you have understood everything that is necessary for these instructions you are probably going to figure out that it is pretty easy. Once you have gotten more experienced you will be able to try out many combinations. Do not be afraid to try daring ideas. Beyond the traditional risotto with porcini or saffron there are loads of interesting combinations. A couple of days ago I tried one with pumpkin cream and coffee. Delicious! One of the ones I want to try is chocolate and orange peel…
Remember that with the leftovers you can make excellent supplì!
Article by Gabriele, Cucina Clandestina;
Translation by Federico
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