Oh. My. God. Creamy Vegan Mediterranean Risotto! Enough said.
To try it, is to love it! This creamy vegan Mediterranean risotto has all the right flavors and hits all the right spots! I’m officially obsessed!
For those that have never tried this delectable dish—risotto is an Italian rice dish that is cooked with broth until it has a creamy consistency. This vegan risotto’s creaminess is accomplished using cashews, marinated artichokes, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, salt, and garlic cloves.
This vegan Mediterranean risotto is bursting with flavor thanks to a handful of this recipe’s ingredients. These include shallot, cherry tomatoes, marinated artichoke hearts, kalamata olives, arborio rice, and chickpeas. The recipe also calls for baby spinach, cooking wine, and a number of seasonings and herbs like thyme, garlic powder, and oregano.
My tricks for a perfect risotto every time: Prepare your mise en place so you have all of the ingredients ready when you start. When you’re cooking the risotto, stay by the stove and stir it almost continuously. Also, monitor the heat the whole time so nothing scorches or burns. You want it to cook slowly, and smoothly!
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do!
Ingredients
- Cream sauce
- 1/4 cup cashews 38g
- 1/3 cup marinated artichokes 168g
- 3 tbsp lemon juice freshly squeezed 45ml
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast 30ml
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 garlic clove
- Risotto
- 3 1/2 cup vegetable broth
- 1 tbsp oil (15ml)
- 3/4 cup shallot (85g)
- 1 container cherry tomatoes, halved (310g)
- 1 cup chopped marinated artichokes hearts (168g)
- 1/2 cup chopped kalamata olives (78g)
- 2 tbsp capers (20g)
- 1 1/2 tbsp minced garlic (17g)
- 3 tbsp white cooking wine
- 1 cup arborio rice (200g)
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp dill dry
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp thyme
- 1 can chickpeas (425g) drained+rinsed
- 2 cups baby spinach (100g) with ends trimmed off
Instructions
- Cream sauce
- Boil the raw cashews for 10-15 minutes to soften. Drain, rinse and let cool down a bit.
- In the meantime, prepare your ‘mise en place’. (Chop and measure the ingredients for the recipe. Set aside in separate bowls.)
- Add remaining cream sauce ingredients to a blender, followed by the slightly cooled down cashews. Blend until smooth, set aside.
- Risotto
- In a medium pot, heat up the vegetable broth. (Important!) Bring to a simmer/soft boil. Keep warm on med/low heat, lightly bubbling.
- Heat a large frying pan/skillet on medium heat. Add oil.
- Sauté onions one to two minutes. Add in the tomatoes, artichokes, olives and capers. Cook for a few mins.
- Add garlic, mix well.
- Bring the heat up, and add in the cooking wine. Cook it off mixing often and bring the heat back down not to burn the garlic.
- Add in the arborio rice, oregano, dill, garlic powder and thyme. Mix well.
- Add one cup warm veg broth.
- Mix well with a wooden spoon around in circles almost continuously. Monitor the heat closely so it doesn’t stick.
- Once most of it is absorbed, add about half of the cream sauce you made earlier. Mix well.
- Add in another cup of veg. broth once the cream sauce is mixed in.
- Again, keep stirring around in small circular motions. Monitor the heat closely!
- When ready, add the third cup of vegetable broth.
- Keep mixing in circular motion. Once the the broth is starting to be absorbed, add the remaining cream sauce and mix well to combine. Keep stirring ’til the rice has absorbed it.
- Add chickpeas, mix well.
- Cover and let rest five minutes.
- Remove lid, add remaining half a cup of vegetable broth, mix to loosen.
- Add trimmed spinach. Mix well, until the spinach is wilted and mixed.
- Serve as desired. Serves four.
Notes
Macros per serving: 523 calories, 18g fat, 76g carbs, 19g protein
Additional Risotto Recipes
If you are like me and in love with risotto recipes, then try this vegan risotto with smoky tofu and dairy-free oat cream. The creamy consistency is made using plant-based milk, vegetable stock, and mushrooms.
You can also try making this vegan tomato risotto recipe. The added roasted cherry tomatoes give this recipe an extra burst of flavor. They also help make this dish extra creamy. You can also roast garlic along with the tomatoes and use the roasted garlic in the risotto.
Or, try making this creamy vegan asparagus and spinach risotto with walnuts. According to the recipe’s author, the combination of asparagus, spinach, walnuts, and pine nuts is really delicious in this dish. In addition to these veggies, or if you are not a fan of asparagus, you can always get creative and use green beans or even peas!
This recipe was republished with permission from Everyday Vegan Food.