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When it comes to rice, few people make an ugly face, right? We may not like tomato rice, but we like carrot rice. We may not like malandirnho rice but we like dry rice. There is rice for all kind of tastes and no doubt this is what makes it one of the most unanimous cereals.
Did you know that Portugal is the biggest consumer of rice in all Europe? It´s not hard to believe, in Portugal all dishes comes with rice, and even if it comes with potatoes, rice must always come together, because who dares to serve anything without rice to a Portuguese?
As a good Portuguese, I am also a rice lover, and in my particular case I am not too much picky, as long as the plate is full!
There are lots of types of rice and lots of rice recipes, but the one I chose to share with you today is the famous risotto! A traditional Italian creamy rice dish!
Risotto, like many other recipes, does not gather consensus about the year of its origin. There are those who say it dates back to the 16th century and others who say that the dish, as we know it today, only appeared in the middle of the 20th century.
Culinary historians agree that the first dishes that resembled a risotto had their origin during the Renaissance, in Lombardy, Milan.
Legend tells us that the dish dates back to 1574, when a man named Valerius was commissioned to make the stained-glass window to adorn the Duomo Di Milano Cathedral. While he was working, many of the townspeople were made fun of him because of the saffron he used to color his works.
As a result and moved by fury, Valerius decides to take revenge and during his master’s wedding, he adds a huge amount of saffron to the rice that was being served as a main dish. But instead of ruining the rice and the party, the rice was a huge success, and the guests even named it “Risos optimus”, which is the same as saying “excellent rice” but in Latin. Thus Risotto alla Milanese was born. Whether the legend is true or not, no one knows, but that the traditional Risotto alla Milanese must have saffron, that no one can deny.
Can you imagine that in the 1920s and 1930s, the Italian fascist regime tried to impose risotto as a national dish, even creating a national rice council to promote its consumption?
Like all delicious recipes, risotto has also spread around the world and is now seen as a gourmet dish that no one can resist.
It is one of the oldest examples of what is now known as slow food. A slow cooking recipe, where flavors are refined and developed to the maximum, creating the perfect fusion between all elements of the recipe.
I confess, I love a good risotto and I truly believe that the secret lies in this slow cooking process and in all the love that it is necessary to add during the preparation of the dish.
EASY | CREAMY | FLAVORFULL | GLUTEN FREE | CHEESY | TO EAT AND CRY FOR MORE
Risotto seems to be a very complex recipe, mainly because we connect risotto with gourmet food, fancy restaurants, chef’s cuisine. But the truth is that it is a relatively simple to make. The only thing it requires is time to dedicate to it.
The first thing to keep in mind when making a risotto is the type of rice. We can buy the one that says on the packaging risotto rice, or we can buy arborio rice, which is basically the same but said in two different ways. No, you can’t make risotto with long grain rice, or brown rice, or basmati rice, forget it … risotto needs round rice, short grain and very rich in starch. That’s what will give all that creaminess in the end!
Then we just need to choose the ingredients that we are going to add, and there we can be very creative or choose according to our preferences. I confess that I love mushroom risotto, so I couldn’t resist sharing this version with you.
Finally, you cannot jump the butter, preferably unsalted and very chilled, to give that extra flavor and shine, and the cheese, which traditionally is parmesan, but I think we can also be creative in this part, as long as we not use like cheddar or mozzarella for example, it’s not forbidden, but they are very specific cheese with quite strong flavors and they can steal a little bit the scene, and that’s not what we want at all. In this case I used a vegan alternative of cured cheese based on nuts and it worked beautifully!
As we are at the snow peas season I couldn’t resist adding them to this risotto, and my dear ones, what a great decision. Snow peas match so beautifully with mushroom risotto!
Let’s know all the ingredients you need to make the Risotto with Mushrooms and Snow Peas?
1 small onion (100gr)
2 tbsp of olive oil
330gr of arborio rice
1 cup of white wine
2 coffee spoons of salt
1,5L of vegetable broth
250gr of portobello mushrooms
150gr fresh peas
100gr of snow peas
35gr vegan margarine (I used unsalted Flora Plant Based)
50gr of vegan cheese (i used the walnut cured cheese from SAYVE)
Black pepper
1 small onion (100gr)
2 tbsp of olive oil
330gr of arborio rice
1 cup of white wine
2 coffee spoons of salt
1,5L of vegetable broth
250gr of portobello mushrooms
150gr fresh peas
100gr of snow peas
35gr vegan margarine (I used unsalted Flora Plant Based)
50gr of vegan cheese (i used the walnut cured cheese from SAYVE)
Black pepper
1- Start by finely chop the onion, cut the mushrooms into cubes and heat the vegetable broth. The broth needs to be hot throughout the process.
2- In a large frying pan, place the olive oil and the onion and let the onion sweat, that is, release some of its water and start to become softer, over a high heat.
3- Add the mushrooms, the fresh peas and the salt and stir with the wooden spoon, for about 3 minutes, or until you see that the mushrooms have reduced their size a little and start to drop some of their water.
4- Reduce the heat to medium and add the rice. Continue to stir for a minute, to wrap the rice well with all the other ingredients and to “toast” the rice a little.
5- Add the wine and stir until it completely evaporates.
6- Add a cup of the vegetable broth and stir gently until it evaporates. Repeat the process until the rice reaches the desired creaminess and cooking point. You only add a new cup or soup ladle to the rice, after the previous one has completely evaporated. This process takes about 20 minutes, stirring continuously and smoothly.
7- In the second dose of broth you add, add the snow peas as well.
8- The rice will be ready when the grain is well grown and fat, and the creaminess is visible and appetizing. If you open a path with the wooden spoon in the frying pan, the rice should slowly close that path again. If you taste and see that the rice is cooked but still has some residual broth it doesn’t matter, turn off the heat and the rice will quickly absorb this moisture. On the contrary, if you think you want your risotto a little more fluid, add a little broth and turn off the heat. Either way, the end result should always be creamy.
9- With the pan out of the heat, add the butter and stir well to wrap all the rice. Add the grated cheese and stir again.
10- Serves immediately! Because it is so creamy, risotto tends to get thick as it cools, so it goes from the pan directly to the plate. Finish with extra grated cheese on top and freshly ground black pepper.
1- Start by finely chop the onion, cut the mushrooms into cubes and heat the vegetable broth. The broth needs to be hot throughout the process.
2- In a large frying pan, place the olive oil and the onion and let the onion sweat, that is, release some of its water and start to become softer, over a high heat.
3- Add the mushrooms, the fresh peas and the salt and stir with the wooden spoon, for about 3 minutes, or until you see that the mushrooms have reduced their size a little and start to drop some of their water.
4- Reduce the heat to medium and add the rice. Continue to stir for a minute, to wrap the rice well with all the other ingredients and to “toast” the rice a little.
5- Add the wine and stir until it completely evaporates.
6- Add a cup of the vegetable broth and stir gently until it evaporates. Repeat the process until the rice reaches the desired creaminess and cooking point. You only add a new cup or soup ladle to the rice, after the previous one has completely evaporated. This process takes about 20 minutes, stirring continuously and smoothly.
7- In the second dose of broth you add, add the snow peas as well.
8- The rice will be ready when the grain is well grown and fat, and the creaminess is visible and appetizing. If you open a path with the wooden spoon in the frying pan, the rice should slowly close that path again. If you taste and see that the rice is cooked but still has some residual broth it doesn’t matter, turn off the heat and the rice will quickly absorb this moisture. On the contrary, if you think you want your risotto a little more fluid, add a little broth and turn off the heat. Either way, the end result should always be creamy.
9- With the pan out of the heat, add the butter and stir well to wrap all the rice. Add the grated cheese and stir again.
10- Serves immediately! Because it is so creamy, risotto tends to get thick as it cools, so it goes from the pan directly to the plate. Finish with extra grated cheese on top and freshly ground black pepper.
*Walnut cured cheese fom SAYVE is available for sale in the NaturallyGreen online store and if you use the code TAVG you always get 10% discount.
*Walnut cured cheese fom SAYVE is available for sale in the NaturallyGreen online store and if you use the code TAVG you always get 10% discount.
Tag @things_about_a_vegan_girl on instagram and hashtag it #thingsaboutavegangirl so we can see all the masterpiece you made!!!
Tag @things_about_a_vegan_girl on instagram and hashtag it #thingsaboutavegangirl so we can see all the masterpiece you made!!!