Risotto Is Real Comfort Food
This curry vegan risotto is completely soul-warming. If you’ve ever wondered how to make risotto, this risotto recipe is totally for you. An easy vegan risotto recipe is just what cold and stormy days need to warm you up for the inside out.
Next time you are in the mood for a bowl of comfort food. This risotto recipe is the perfect thing to whip up. You probably already have most of the ingredients in your pantry and freezer. Especially, if you’ve downloaded my Kitchen Essentials Grocery List. If you haven’t you should grab it today. Having a well-stocked kitchen makes pulling dinner together on the fly ultra easy.
I love anything curry. And who doesn’t like a rich, creamy bowl of risotto?
A lot of nights in my kitchen I feel a bit like I’m on an episode of Chopped. I’m staring into my refrigerator and pantry, and it feels like I’m on the clock to bring a batch of random ingredients together to make a delicious and presentable meal, for the judges, in less than 3o minutes! The recipe for Curry Vegan Risotto is a result of one of those nights.
Maybe you think because I am a professional food blogger that I would always know exactly what to make for dinner. Wouldn’t that be nice? Let me tell you, creating recipes every single day can leave me with a lot of random leftover ingredients that don’t always seem like they would go together and first glance. I hate wasting food, so I end up with some pretty creative Chopped worthy dishes. Luckily, cooking is kind of my thing so I’m usually able to bring almost any random collection of ingredients together into an edible meal. For the most part, everyone seems pretty happy with the food on the table.
Another challenge that I face when meal planning for the week is that my daughter is a vegan, my husband is Mr. meat and potatoes, and I love healthy animal protein, but not too many potatoes. Maybe you don’t have all this going on, but I’m sure, if you’re a mom (or dad) running the dinner game, you have a picky eater or two living in your presence. It can be hard to figure out a healthy, hearty meal that everyone will eat and enjoy. I have to get creative.
On the night that I created this curry vegan risotto, I was looking in the fridge and cupboard for inspiration.
What did I find? I found a few carrots, some celery, and an onion. This super simple trio is the foundation for most French cooking, called mirepoix. Mirepoix is the primary flavor starter for soups, roasts, wild rice dishes, etc. You name it mirepoix brings the flavor. Guaranteed I always have the fixings for mirepoix on the ready.
The other ingredients that I almost always have around are cartons of broth, frozen peas, canned chickpeas, and of course some yellow curry powder in the spice rack. On this particular night, I happened to arborio rice in my panty. I typically have rice of some variety. You could make this risotto recipe with another type of rice. However, arborio rice is the best. Arborio rice is higher in starch that is essential for building in the creaminess that is typical of a well-done risotto recipe.
The necessary steps to making any risotto recipe are:
1. SAUTE any raw veggies in a little oil or butter.
2. RICE add-in and toast lightly.
3. BROTH add one ladle full at a time until absorbed, then repeat. (Classic risotto also has a little wine in it.)
Making risotto is easy. There are just a few tricks to keep in mind that will ensure you get the creamy texture that you are craving. Warm the broth in a separate a saucepan. Keep the broth on a low simmer, so it stays warm. When you build a risotto the key to getting a nice creamy texture is to encourage the starch out of the rice slowly. Building the creaminess is done by adding small amounts of warm broth a little bit at a time. Each time you add broth you stir until the liquid is absorbed by the rice. Once absorbed, you add a bit more broth. While this may seem like a lot of stirring, it doesn’t take that long. It is an excellent way to decompress – to give your brain a break – after a long day. Stir, Stir, Stir – Think of it as a form of meditation.
Once you learn the basic formula for building a risotto you can go crazy — some of my favorite risotto recipes I have built on the fly.
I’ve made Butternut Squash Risotto. This one has browned butter and sage in it which is a classic and delicious flavor combo. Mushroom Risotto is another tried and true flavor. I like to get the mushrooms brown and season them with thyme before adding the rice. I also use a little wine in most of the risotto recipes that I make. For the Curry Risotto, I didn’t add any wine. I also have memories of a fantastic Lobster Risotto. What is not to like about lobster risotto? One of my absolute all-time favorites is a simple risotto recipe that uses ham, peas and a little parmesan. Yum!
I hope that you not only give this curry risotto recipe a try but that you will be inspired to try some other versions of risotto. I love taking a dish like this that seem intimidating and fancy and making it approachable. Starting with a simple risotto based on the classic gives you the confidence to try a more complex risotto recipe later on.
Enjoy this recipe and if you do make it tag me @foodologygeek. I would love to see it and celebrate your risotto mastery. And don’t forget to grab the Kitchen Essentials, Grocery List.
You can also check out some of my other freebies HERE.
Easy Curry Risotto
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups arborio rice
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- ½ onion finely diced
- 1 stalk celery finely diced
- 1 carrot finely diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup chickpeas
- 1 cup peas
- ½ tbsp curry powder
- 5-6 cups vegetable broth
- salt and pepper
Special Equipment
Instructions
- Heat the broth in a medium saucepan. Set aside and keep warm.
- Add the coconut oil to a large heavy bottomed pan. (I use a cast iron enameled dutch oven)
- Add the diced, onion, carrot and celery to the pan. Add the salt and pepper. Sauté for 3-5 minutes.
- Add the garlic. Sauté for a few minutes, until fragrant.
- Add the arborio rice and curry powder. Sauté, until slightly toasted.
- Add the broth one cup at a time. Between each addition, stir rice until all the liquid is absorbed.
- Continue to add the broth one cup at a time until rice is tender.
- Add the chickpeas and peas. Stir in and cook until they are warmed through.
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