Mushroom Risotto

A simple cashew cream made from cashews and nutritional yeast subs for dairy in this creamy risotto, which features the first veggies of spring, mushrooms and peas! This recipe comes to us from Ceara of Ceara’s Kitchen.

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Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

For the Risotto

• 2 white onions, diced
• 3-4 gloves garlic, diced
• 2 tsp herbes de provence
• 5 cups white button mushrooms, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups arborio rice (“risotto” rice)
• 5 – 5 1/2 cups vegetable stock
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 1 tsp truffle oil (optional)
• 2 – 4 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 cups frozen peas
• Sea salt and pepper to taste

For the Cashew Cream

• 1/3 cup cashews
• 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 – 2 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
• 2 – 3 tbsp water

Garnish

• Fresh basil

Directions:

Soak cashews in hot water while preparing the risotto.

Over medium high heat, in a large and deep pan, saute the diced onions and garlic with the herbes de provence in a splash of vegetable broth until they begin to soften. Add chopped mushrooms and saute for 3-4 minutes until the mushrooms soften and reduce, adding a bit of extra vegetable broth if necessary.

Add the arborio rice to the hot pan and saute with the vegetables for a couple of minutes until the rice begins to turn a light golden brown. (*Saute continuously to ensure that the rice does not burn).

Add 2 cups of the vegetable broth and stir until the rice has soaked up the broth. Add a cup more broth and stir continuously until the rice has soaked up the broth. Add the dry white wine (if using) and stir until the rice has soaked up the wine. Add another ½ cup of vegetable broth and continue stirring until the rice soaks up the broth. Continue adding vegetable broth, by the ½ cup, until the rice is just cooked.

(Note: you might need a bit more or less broth depending on the heat of your stove etc.)

Stir in truffle oil (optional), nutritional yeast, lemon juice and frozen peas. Stir for a couple of minutes until the peas are lightly cooked. Add sea salt and pepper to taste.

Cashew Cream

Drain and rinse the soaked cashews. Using an immersion blender, blend the cashews, lemon juice, nutritional yeast and water until a creamy and smooth mixture is formed. Add additional water, by the tablespoon, until the desired consistency is reached. Season with sea salt to taste.

Stir the cashew cream into the risotto (or, alternatively, leave the cashew cream on the side and allow people to add it directly to the risotto on their plate) and garnish with fresh basil.