Vegan Dinner Recipe: Rainbow risotto for a rainy day

Risotto. Is there anything more satisfying on a rainy day? This risotto is a flavourful medley of reds and greens, and, once you have the hang of it, is pretty easy, just with a lot of stirring.



Ingredients:

One and a third cups of Aborio rice
Five cups of veggie stock
One cup of hot water
A third of a cup of white wine
A tablespoon and a half of olive oil
A red onion, chopped
Three sticks of celery, trimmed and chopped
Half a cup of sundried tomatoes, chopped (I buy these awesome ones that are marinated with capers to make things interesting)
Half a cup of frozen peas
Half a cup of marinated artichoke halves, quartered
A hundred and twenty grams (approximately) of asparagus spears, chopped into centimetre long bits
The juice of half a lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
Two tablespoons of pinenuts, toasted

Instructions:

First, put the five cups of stock in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over a low heat. Turn the heat down as low as possible and leave it, covered, for a bit later.

Heat the oil in a big pot or deep saucepan over a medium to low heat. Add the red onion and celery, and cook, stirring, for about five minutes until the onion and celery are soft but not brown.

Add the rice and cook, stirring, for two minutes.

Keep the heat on the low side. Add half a cup of the simmering stock, and stir. Allow all the stock to absorb into the rice.

Continue, half a cup of stock at a time, ensuring that the stock is fully absorbed before adding more. The rice will start to puff up and get sticky. This is what we want.

Getting all the stock in and absorbed should take between twenty and thirty-five minutes.

Once all the stock is absorbed into the rice mixture, add the chopped asparagus, artichokes, sundried tomatoes, and frozen peas. Stir well.

Add the remaining cup of hot water and stir continually until that is also absorbed.

Test the rice, it should taste cooked - a little chewy is okay, but not crunchy. Turn off the heat, add the lemon-juice, salt and pepper, and then put the lid on and leave for five minutes for the flavours to absorb.

Serve, topped with toasted pine-nuts. This recipe creates three hearty servings, and would serve four with bread and a salad!