Mushroom Leek Risotto
This risotto is delicious, approachable, and vegan! Aromatic sun dried tomatoes, garlic, leeks, and mushrooms combined with savory vegan butter, smooth white wine, and a touch of vegan parmesan create a creamy and satisfying result that is comforting without being overfilling.
I first learned to cook risotto during the fall of 2017 in Amsterdam.
My host mom taught me how to cook this seemingly unapproachable dish, and I have taken a liking to it ever since. It has entered my repeat rotation — a dish I needed to master.
This particular risotto took four trials to perfect. I was nervous for the fourth trial, as I had not taken good notes on the first three. However, I ended up totally blowing those trials out of the water and nailing it. I’m sure Chef Ramsay would still scream at me to “GET OUT” (honestly, I’d love for him to bellow obscenities at me regardless of my execution), but nonetheless, this is a dish I stand behind.
Every week, my good friend and I cook a meal together. On risotto night, I had actually planned on making breakfast burrito crunchwraps, but both grocery stores I visited were out of tofu. The stars aligned at the end of the day as the risotto was perfect, and I learned that I had actually made a mushroom leek risotto exactly one year ago. Alissa and I have since declared February 10th National Risotto Day.
February 10th, 2020 and February 10th, 2021
Risotto night is always a special night. It is characterized by slow, focused attention, warming comfort, and overdrinking. Let’s be real — when you are only using a half cup of wine for cooking, stirring slowly and intimately, and treating yourself to something as romantic as risotto, consuming the entire remainder of the bottle with the meal is pretty much a requirement. Just me? Oh.
Through all my experiments with this loved yet feared dish, I have derived one key takeaway — it’s easy! Risotto is one of those dishes that just requires a bit of guidance and confidence — there is really no need to be intimidated.
Determine when to add broth! On the left: too dry. On the right: too wet.
If you make and enjoy this meal, please leave me a rating and comment, and share with your friends — it means so much to me and the growth of my blog.
May you enjoy your date night to the fullest degree, whether or not it includes someone else!
Vegan Mushroom Leek Risotto
Equipment
- Small or medium saucepan
- Medium dutch oven
- Ladle
Ingredients
- 1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp vegan butter
- 1 large leek (about 1.5 cups) sliced*
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 3 sundried tomatoes chopped
- 1 cup arborio rice unrinsed
- ½ cup dry white wine**
- 8 oz crimini mushrooms sliced
- 6 medium shiitake mushrooms sliced
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- ⅓ cup shredded VioLife parmesan
- Oregano and black pepper optional, for topping
Instructions
- Add broth to a medium saucepan and turn heat to high. Once it is hot but not yet simmering, turn heat down to low.
- Preheat a dutch oven over medium-low. Once pan is hot, add oil and butter, and allow butter to melt completely.
- Add sliced leek and saute 1-2 minutes until it is aromatic and color brightens slightly. Add garlic and sun dried tomato, and saute 1-2 minutes more until aromatic.
- Add arborio rice and dry roast for 1-2 minutes, stirring regularly. Add the wine and mix regularly, taking about 10 second pauses between stirs, until the wine is mostly absorbed. Look for the liquid no longer pooling when you pull a spoon through the mixture to expose the bottom of the pan — you'll want to see some liquid surrounding the rice, but it will be noticeably thicker than when it was initially added. It should not appear dry at any point.
- Add the sliced crimini and shiitake mushrooms. Mix regularly, continuing to take 10 second pauses between stirs, until mushrooms begin to cook down, release liquid, and brown.
- Add two ladle's worth of vegetable broth to the risotto and stir well. Continue the method of stirring and then letting it sit for 10 seconds until the liquid is mostly absorbed.
- Once the first round of broth is absorbed, continue adding broth one ladle at a time and mixing well every 10 seconds until each serving is absorbed. This will take 15 to 20 minutes.
- Once you have added the last serving of broth and it is nearly absorbed, turn off the heat and stir in the vegan parmesan. Top with oregano and black pepper (optional), serve and enjoy!!