I love risotto. It’s the perfect white canvas for an array of different flavors. You can make risotto with anything and it will be delicious. Today we’re making a cheesy broccoli risotto. Bursting with creamy textures and rich, savory notes, this dish will transport you straight to the heart of Italy, without compromising on your plant-based lifestyle. You’ll even wonder; is this really vegan?

It’s all about the cheese!

I hear you asking to yourself; how can you make a creamy and luscious risotto without parmesan? Well my friend i’ve got the PERFECT parmesan substitute for you! I’ve actually made a whole blogpost about it that you can check out here. This vegan parmesan is truly my holy grail, it transforms every vegan pasta dish into the real deal, like you won’t even miss the dairy version. So if you are vegan and you miss cheese, try this out! I’m sure that you won’t be dissapointed.

To make a good risotto there are a few simple steps you have to follow. Risotto needs to fold like waves onto your plate. It should be quite runny, so I don’t want to see any sticky goopy risotto that sticks to your spoon!

Let me take you through the steps real quick before we dive into the recipe;

First step is to ALWAYS use white onion and butter for the base. Mince the onion very finely, melt the butter and sauteé until transluscent and fragrant.
Then you add the rice and toast it in the butter and onion mixture for a few minutes while constantly stirring! Every grain of rice should be coated in the butter.
The next step is to deglaze with white wine and while you stir (constantly!) let the wine evaporate/absorb before adding any stock. This is very important!
When the wine is gone, you can add a few ladles of stock. And again, STIR CONSTANTLY! The stirring is very important to create a creamy risotto.
You keep adding stock and stirring until the rice is cooked al dente. This should take anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes depending on the rice you’re using. I start to give the rice a taste after 15 minutes.
Another important step, when the rice is cooked al dente, make sure to add another ladle of stock and put it of the heat.
Add the butter and cheese, yes while the pan is OFF THE HEAT, and stir vigorously until you have a nice runny and creamy risotto. If you find the risotto too thick add a bit more stock to it.

these little details might not seem little if you’re a risotto newbee, but I promise you’ll get the hang of it in no time!

Enough with the chatter, time to make this recipe!

This recipe serves approx. 4 people

Ingredients

380 gr of arborio risotto rice
1,5 L veggie broth
100 ml vegan white wine
1 medium white onion or shallot, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbs of butter
120gr of vegan parmesan, grated (my favorite brand)
1 very large broccoli, or 2 smaller ones
a handful of fresh spinach

How to

Add the broth in a pot and place over medium-high heat. Keep it on a low simmer while you make the risotto.
Chop half of the broccoli in small chunks. The other half into florets. Cook the florets until bright green in the broth, drain them out and put into a blender along with spinach and mix until smooth. Set aside.
Add the butter to a separate large pot over medium-high heat. Once melted add the onion/shallot and garlic.
Cook for 2 minutes until translucent.
Add the rice and toast the rice for another minute, while stirring.
Deglaze with the white wine and simmer for 3-5 minutes, until most of the liquid has evaporated from the pan or been absorbed by the rice.
Add the chopped broccoli.
Start by adding a ladle of the warmed broth to the pan with the rice. Reduce the heat to Medium-Low and stir the mixture frequently. Once the rice has absorbed all the broth and you can drag your spoon through the mixture and it leaves a dry path, add an additional ladle of warm broth. Repeat this process with the remaining broth.
Begin to taste the Risotto for doneness at around 15 minutes, though it may take 20-25 minutes to cook in total. The Rice will be creamy but have a slightly al dente texture once finished.
Once the risotto has cooked, turn the heat off and stir in the broccoli-spinach sauce, and additional spoon of butter and the grated vegan parmesan. Season with salt and pepper to taste, if needed.
Devide the risotto onto plates and top with some more parmesan if desired.
Buon Appetito!