Vegetable Leek Risotto
October 24, 2020 | By Jeremy Scheck | 7 Comments
This autumn leek risotto is so comforting and packed full of flavor. You can feel free to add any vegetables you like; I used mushrooms and carrots, but you don’t have to! This is by no means a traditional recipe, but it sure is delicious!
Video Tutorial
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMJmdPDso/
Leek Risotto
Ingredients
- 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock or broth
- 2 cups water
- A couple sage leaves
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2-3 tablespoons neutral oil (such as avocado or canola)
- 5-8 thinly sliced mushrooms (I really like shiitake), optional
- 4 tablespoons butter (will be used 2 tbsp at a time)
- 1 leek, thoroughly washed and sliced (use up until the dark green)
- 3 carrots grated or thinly sliced
- A hefty pinch of kosher salt
- Freshly cracked black pepper (to taste)
- Crushed red pepper flakes (to taste)
- 1.5 cups arborio rice
- 3/4 cup dry white wine (such as pinot grigio)
- ~2 tablespoons soy sauce (to taste for extra umami flavor // you can substitute a gluten free equivalent)
- 3/4 cup freshly grated parmigiano reggiano cheese
- A drizzle of good balsamic vinegar for serving
Instructions
- In a little stockpot, add the chicken or vegetable broth with the water, sage, and garlic. Start heating over medium high heat. (You can do this before prepping the veggies).
- In a medium-large pan with high sides (on a nearby burner), add the oil and heat to medium high. Add the mushrooms (if you're using them), and let them cook until they are very deeply golden brown. You may want to stir them often. If you're not using mushrooms, just skip to the next step.
- Once the mushrooms are cooked, add in the leeks and the carrots, along with 2 tablespoons of butter. Season with a hefty pinch of kosher salt, freshly cracked black pepper, and a bit of red pepper flakes to taste. Cook the veggies on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the leeks are translucent and possibly lightly golden.
- Add in the arborio rice (do not wash it), and stir it around to get coated in the butter and veggies, etc. Let it mingle with everything over medium heat 1-2 minutes, until the rice starts to look a bit more translucent or you hear a faint clicking noise coming from the rice.
- Add in the white wine, and stir gently until it mostly cooks down and evaporates.
- Then ladle in the warm broth one ladle at a time, and stir gently. When the broth from one ladle is absorbed about 80% and appears to be dwindling, that's when you add the next ladleful. Stir often and gently as you go, and repeat for about 20 minutes, or until the rice is al dente, which means it's mostly cooked through but still has a bit of texture in the middle.
- Taste for salt, and drizzle in the soy sauce accounting for how much salt the risotto lacks.
- Turn off the heat. Add in the last 2 tablespoons of butter and the parmigiano reggiano cheese, and stir vigorously until the butter melts. You should notice that it becomes glossy and creamy. This important step is called mantecatura in Italian.
- Serve preferably in a warm bowl and drizzle with good quality balsamic vinegar to taste.
Jeremy Scheck spent high school perfecting his signature cupcakes, making quiches and coffee cake by the dozen at a local bakery, and teaching cooking demonstrations at Williams-Sonoma. As a 10th grader in 2016, he began documenting his favorite recipes on a blog called The After School Bakery. In college, Jeremy learned to make 50 gallons of ice cream in the food science lab, how to prune grape vines in the teaching vineyard, the best way to milk a cow in Northern Italy, and why film photography is an art worth saving. As a sophomore in 2020, he traded blog photos for video and became a TikTok culinary sensation. Jeremy has been featured on the Today show, The Washington Post, Bloomberg, BBC Radio, People, and Access Hollywood, among others. Jeremy is a graduate of Cornell University with a double major in Spanish and Italian, and significant coursework in food science. He lives in Brooklyn, NY. Learn more about Jeremy.
nice article thanks for the info very helpful
Omg so amazing! I am not gonna lie, it is very time consuming, but it is absolutely worth it! I made it for a fall dinner I had with friends and we finished the whole pot! Also the balsamic in the end gives it and extra oomph!
I used onion instead of leak but wow this was so good! Soy sauce adds a nice hint of flavor. You won’t realize it’s soy sauce and will leave your guests wondering what makes it so tasty.
the flavors in this were so well rounded and i loved it. the only thing i’d say is i was a little nervous and stirred too much; that made it slightly gummy, but it didn’t take away at all from how awesome it was. my nana talked about it all night!
My girlfriend and I have been wanting to make risotto for a while and finally tried out this recipe last night! It turned out delicious and we added vegetarian Italian sausage from Trader Joe’s for some protein, and also some diced sage at the end since I wanted more of that flavor. Thanks for the tasty and easy recipe!!!
Love this recipe so much!!! So easy to make and so delicious, i make it often for me and my family and it’s always a hit 🙂 also super easy to veganize! (vegan butter instead of butter and nutritional yeast instead of parmigiano is what i used! ) also love that you can pretty much use whatever vegetable you have at the moment to make it ! <3
This was so amazing! One of the best meals I have made in a really long time! I would have never thought to add soy sauce. Thank you! <3