Sautéed mushrooms and plump grains of arborio rice are dressed in creamy cashew milk and garlicky kale pesto to make this decadent and spring-perfect vegan risotto.
Hey look! This one is all green and sparkly! Convenient. Actually, I totally didn't plan the whole green thing for Saint Patty's day week, figuring Monday's shepherd's pie would be plenty to get you through the big day. I just happened to look over my posting schedule and there this was. Also, we're on the verge of spring, and things just tend to start looking greener when we hit that time of year.
So let's talk about this risotto. I think it's my favorite risotto ever, and I really love risotto. I always know I'm in big trouble when I start playing around with my food during the photographing process and find more of it ends up in my face than in the photos. It was really tasty. I've been wanting to try kale pesto for ages now, and a fancy spring risotto seemed the perfect vehicle. This pesto was very flavorful, nice and garlicky, and packed just a little bit of fresh herby flavor thanks to the addition of some basil. If you're one of those people who doesn't like kale (and I know you're out there. And what are you thinking?) you should give this pesto a try.
I love that risotto has a natural creaminess to it, but being as I pounded quite a few plates of risotto spiked with heavy cream during my twenties, I like a little something extra in my vegan risotto, so I added some non-dairy milk. The resulting rice is perfectly plump, just rich enough, and deliciously creamy.
Creamy Kale Pesto Risotto
Ingredients
For the Kale Pesto
- 3 cups lacinato kale leaves, stems removed and torn into 2 inch pieces
- ⅓ cup shelled walnuts
- ¼ cup fresh basil leaves
- 2 tbsp. lemon juice
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- ¼ to ⅓ cup olive oil
For the Risotto
- 2 tbsp. olive oil, divided
- 8 oz. button mushrooms, cleaned, stemmed and sliced
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 ½ cups arborio rice
- ½ cup dry white wine
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
Make the Kale Pesto
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Place kale leaves, walnuts, basil, lemon juice and garlic into food processor bowl. Pulse until finely chopped. With the food processor running, drizzle in olive oil until well blended.
Make the Risotto
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Coat the bottom of a large saucepan with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and place over medium heat. When oil is hot, add mushroom slices in an even layer. Allow to cook for 5 minutes, until browned on bottoms, flip and cook 5 minutes more. Remove from pot and transfer to a plate.
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Coat the bottom of the pot with remaining tablespoon of olive oil and add onion. Sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Add rice and continue to sauté until it begins to turn translucent, about 2 minutes. Add wine and bring to a simmer. Allow to cook until most of the wine has been absorbed or evaporated, about 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
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Add ½ cup of broth and bring to a simmer. Allow to simmer, stirring frequently until broth is almost fully absorbed. Continue adding ½ cup of broth at a time in this manner, stirring every minute or two, until rice is plump and tender, adding kale pesto mixture and mushrooms with the last broth addition. This should take about 25-30 minutes. Stir in cashew milk and continue to simmer until thick and creamy, 2-3 minutes.
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Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve.
This looks amazing Alissa! I love that the base is Kale pesto! Pinned to make super duper soon! :)
Thanks so much Kiran!
I've been wanting to try to make a risotto for awhile! Thanks for the inspiration! I'll have to try this one.
Alissa, I basically swoon every single time I see one of your recipes come up on my Bloglovin feed. You are a culinary genius! This looks completely amazing!
You can use any sort of non dairy milk instead, right? Unsweetened almond or soy milk?
Hi, Alissa. Thank you for this recipe. Believe, me. I need it. I'm vegan since the last year. I haven't had any problem eating in restaurants until the last week. It was my sister's birthday, and we decided to celebrate it at an Italian restaurant. Well, I prepared my self. I just ordered my salad (I also ate before leaving my house). Everything was fine until... my niece ordered a risotto. I could not stop looking at it. I felt like one of the vampires of the Twilight Saga (yes, with all the red and wide open eyes and fast breathing). Well, Alissa thank you, thank you. You saved me!
This looks great Alissa! I'll have to try adding kale to pesto.
Made this twice now. Delicious addition to our now more frequent no meat (we are getting there!) nights. Thank you :)
Yay!! I'm glad you're enjoying it!
I have made this recipe so many times, it’s absolutely wonderful, so flavourful and creamy. What a winner.
Thanks Kay! I'm so glad that you are enjoying it!
Hi just wondering if I can substitute almond milk instead of cashew?
That should work!
Loved it, will make it again!
Glad to hear it! Thanks Sarah!