CAULIFLOWER VEGAN RISOTTO
Recipe Created By:
Danilo Cortellini
Serves
4
ready in
105 minutes
difficulty
Easy
What you will need
- 320g Riso Gallo Traditional Risotto rice
- 1 small cauliflower
- 30g grated Grana Padano
- 2 onions
- 1 litre of vegetable stock (easily done with the cauliflower trimmings)
- 80ml dry white wine
- 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 sprig of sage
- 150 ml of dairy free cream alternative
- 60 g of Taggiasca black olives
- 80 g of sun-dried tomatoes
- Fennel tops to garnish
- Salt and pepper (to taste)
For the Pickled Cauliflower
- 100 ml of water
- 100 ml of white wine vinegar
- 2 tsp of sugar
- 1 tsp of salt
- 1 tsp of pepper corns
- 1 bay leaf
How to prepare:
Slice the onion thinly and sweat it in a large pan with a drizzle of oil, a few sage leaves and a pinch of salt. Cook gently until golden. Chop the cauliflower roughly but save a piece for the pickling.
In a separate pot of salted boiling water cook the chopped cauliflower until soft. When ready drain directly into the pan with the golden onion and add a ladle of cooking water. Cook together for 5 minutes until everything is soft and blend until smooth adding the cream alternative. Keep the puree to the side.
Slice the remaining cauliflower with a potato peeler into shaves and place it into a bowl. Prepare the pickling liquid by boiling water and vinegar together with salt, sugar, the bay leaf and the peppercorns. Pour the hot liquid over the cauliflower shaves, cover with film and leave to cool (best if rested overnight).
For the risotto In a large casserole dish, start to dry toast the rice on a low heat with a pinch of salt, without adding oil or fat. In this way, the heat reaches the core of each rice grain resulting in a more uniform al dente rice. Keep stirring the rice, so the rice does not catch on the bottom of the pan or burn. When the rice is very hot, pour the wine in. Let the alcohol evaporate, set the cooking time to 16 minutes and add the simmering stock a ladle at a time, little by little. Stir the rice occasionally, and make sure it is always covered with stock. Keep cooking and do not stir with too much energy as it could break the rice grains.
When halfway through the cooking time, start to gradually add the cauliflower puree. Be aware, you might not need all the puree but just the amount to reach a creamy consistency in your risotto.
Once the time is up, taste the risotto and if you’re happy with the texture, remove it from the heat. If you want the rice a little bit softer, cook for another minute.
This step is called “mantecatura” to make the risotto creamier, increasing its natural ooziness with the right gesture and movements but this time without the cheese and butter. Add a couple of spoons of olive oil and stir well to incorporate extra air until the risotto is nice and creamy. At this stage, if the risotto dries up, you can still add a little bit of hot stock. Season to taste.
Plate the hot risotto straight away, and top with the olives, the sun-dried tomatoes, the pickled cauliflower shaves and a few leaves of fennel. Drizzle with olive oil and enjoy.
