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Lazy Cat Kitchen

A food blog with plant-based recipes from all over the world

Vegan mushroom risotto

November 30, 2019 by Ania - 12

comfort food, easy, gluten-free, Italiango to recipe

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vegan mushroom risotto close

The temperature has dropped a lot in the last couple of days so I felt that a bowl of creamy vegan mushroom risotto topped with garlicky mushrooms may be what the doctor ordered. Coupled with a good glass of wine, a pair of warm socks (my circulation isn’t in the job of keeping my extremities warm apparently! 😉 ), a cat on my lap and a good Netflix show this could easily be my Saturday evening sorted. Oh wait, I have no sofa to sit on – think again, Ania! Oh well, you get the gist! Mushroom risotto is the very definition of comfort food, isn’t it? It is usually Duncan that cooks it in our house as, ever since I’ve started this blog, I tend to cook all the meals and that’s one meal that he can make with his eyes closed, so I am not going to pass up this opportunity to be ‘cooked for’ for a change, am I?

Thinking about food and provisioning day in and day out is taxing and gets rather boring. Sometimes I wish I could offload some of it to my capable husband, but it’s just not that simple in practice. For starters, as opposed to Duncan, I know what’s in either of our two fridges at all times as I constantly shop for food for my recipe tests and photoshoots. Secondly, as I am the main cook, Duncan is always at a loss as to where everything is, so him cooking something new is me being asked about where every single bit of equipment he needs is and then him struggling to put it back in the right cupboard afterwards. Plus watching Duncan cook is like him watching me use a computer – we both get frustrated as we know that things could be done better and it is soooo hard not to correct someone sometimes.

This is when working from home isn’t so fantastic as your work life bleeds into your home life. I did not know that starting this blog means that I will end up doing all the cooking, every day for the rest of my life – it just makes more sense especially that sometimes my photoshoot or test cook IS our dinner. To be fair, Duncan does wash up so it’s not that bad, but like everybody, I do feel a little uninspired / cannot be bothered to cook AGAIN sometimes – honest truth!

So while Duncan is the risotto man in our house, he is quite traditional when it comes to cooking and when I first suggested adding miso to a mushroom risotto, it did not go down very well. I am not as afraid of breaking old-fashioned rules although, as you can tell by my recipes, I am not a wild child either. I like twists!

So this vegan mushroom risotto has a couple of my twists that you can take or leave – it’s up to you. I used miso paste in the place of some salt as it adds a lot of subtle flavour to the dish. To compensate for the cream that is often added to traditional risottos, I blended some of the rehydrated porcini with a handful of soaked cashews to create a wonderful porcini cream that reinforces the mushroom flavour and adds a little extra creaminess that some risotto eaters enjoy. Finally, I feel that the richness of this dish benefits from a little bit of acid. In the recipe I suggest balsamic vinegar as it works rather well with the other flavours, but I will let you in on a secret – I used a little bit of sauerkraut liquid instead 😛 to preserve the risotto’s golden colour as, no matter how good it is, I still need to make it look appetising (or no one will want to cook it) and with a pile of food in different shades of brown that’s more difficult that it sounds, trust me. Enjoy!

PS: If you do make my vegan mushroom risotto, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram (#lazycatkitchen). I love seeing your take on my recipes.

vegan mushroom risotto porcini

vegan mushroom risotto rice mushrooms

vegan mushroom risotto meal

4.67 from 3 votes
Print
  • serves: 4-5
  • prep: 30 min
  • cooking: 30 min

Ingredients

  • 40 g / 1.4 oz dry porcini* OR a mixture of porcini and shiitake (I used 50/50)
  • 750 g / 26 oz favourite fresh mushrooms (shiitake, chestnut / cremini, oyster)
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • 4 small shallots or ½ large onion, finely diced
  • 3 large garlic cloves, 2 finely diced and 1 finely grated
  • 400 g / 2 cups risotto rice
  • 120 ml / ½ cup vegan white wine
  • approx. 2 cups / 500 ml veggie stock, from a stock cube or homemade vegan stock
  • 2 tbsp white miso paste (optional)
  • salt and black pepper, to taste
  • 35 g / ¼ cup cashews soaked in boiling water for 30 min (optional)
  • 2-3 sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves only
  • 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar (optional)
  • well minced fresh parsley, to garnish

Method

  1. Clean your dry mushrooms of any grit under the tap. Place in a measuring jug or a small pot and cover in about 500 ml / 2 cups of boiling water. Cover and set aside to brew for 30 minutes or so.
  2. Next, clean all your fresh mushrooms using a damp paper towel or a damp mushroom brush. Try to keep your mushrooms as dry as possible. Slice and set aside.
  3. Heat up 2 tbsp of olive oil in a heavy bottomed pan or pot, one that you have a fitted lid for.
  4. Add in chopped shallots (or onion) and fry on a low heat until translucent (about 5 minutes), stirring from time to time.
  5. Add 2 garlic cloves to the shallots and fry, stirring frequently, until fragrant and softened (about 2 minutes).
  6. Mix in rice and fry it off for a few seconds, stirring frequently.
  7. Gently drain mushroom stock (infusion) away making sure you don’t disturb a little grit that tends to settle at the bottom of the pot. Heat up your mushroom stock in a small pot. Save rehydrated porcini for later.
  8. Next add wine. Allow the wine to cook off completely before adding the first small portion (60 ml / ¼ cup or so) of hot mushroom stock.
  9. Keep on adding the stock, in small amounts, until fully absorbed by the rice before adding the next portion. Make sure to stir the rice often to activate the starch, which makes for a creamy risotto. Once you run out of mushroom stock, heat up a little vegetable stock to supplement.
  10. If you like the idea of using miso, dissolve it in a bit of hot stock first and add it into the risotto while incorporating stock. Make sure you season your risotto as you go, tasting often.
  11. While you make your risotto, you may want make a bit of porcini cream to fold into the risotto at the last minute to make it more indulgent. Blend soaked and drained cashews with about 20 g / 7 oz of soaked porcini and a splash of water in a blender until super smooth.
  12. When the risotto is nearly done, it’s time to pan-fry the fresh mushrooms – you may need to do them in batches as overcrowding the pan will produce soggier mushrooms. Heat up a large pan with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, add sliced fresh mushrooms onto the hot oil and leave undisturbed for a minute or two so that they caramelise on one side. Stir the pan and again leave them to caramelise for a bit. Give them a stir from time to time until they are mostly caramelised and look cooked. Add a finely grated garlic clove, thyme leaves and a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper. Stir well, allowing the garlic to cook gently in the mushrooms.
  13. Keep on adding the stock to the rice until the rice is almost al dente – i.e. has a small amount of bite to it when tasted. It will take about 15-20 minutes from the moment you first started adding liquid to the pan.
  14. Taste a grain of rice to make sure it is almost ready. If it is, stir some porcini cream (if using) and a bit of balsamic vinegar if you like a touch of acidity to break through the creaminess. Switch the heat off, cover the pan / pot and allow the risotto to rest for 5 minutes.
  15. Divide the risotto between bowls, top with pan-fried mushrooms and fresh parsley.

Notes

*If you aren’t blending these with cashews for a porcini cream, I suggest chopping them really small and stirring them into the risotto towards the end as they have a lot of flavour.

If you want more info on some of the ingredients that we use in our recipes, check out our glossary.
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This recipe has been written by Ania. She is the cook, stylist and photographer behind Lazy Cat Kitchen. You can read about her journey into food blogging here. You can also check her out on Pinterest and Instagram.

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    Comments

    Leave a comment

  1. Rasha says

    November 30, 2019 at 8:10 pm

    Thank you for the delicious recipe but is there a substitute for a white wine ????
    Thank You

    Reply
    • Ania says

      December 2, 2019 at 1:33 pm

      Hi Rasha,

      My pleasure! Simply use more stock in place of wine and maybe add a touch more acid at the end – up to your tastebuds really as you may not find it necessary at all. Ania

      Reply
  2. Caroline says

    December 1, 2019 at 5:07 pm

    Hi Ania, can you freeze or refrigerate any left over risotto? Thanks, Caroline

    Reply
    • Ania says

      December 2, 2019 at 1:31 pm

      Hi Caroline,

      Technically, I suppose you could but I would not recommend it as by the time you reheat it, the rice will be really overcooked and it won’t taste very nice anymore. Risotto is one of these dishes that is best prepared fresh, in my opinion. Ania

      Reply
  3. Grahame says

    December 14, 2019 at 10:08 pm

    Thanks Ania, another delicious dish. I confess that I had never made risotto before so I was a bit worried about this (do I need to boil the rice first? What do I do with the mushrooms from the stock? …etc.), but in the end it came together beautifully. Not quite as beautifully as your pictures, but still very tasty. It was a lot creamier than I thought it would be, the cashew/mushroom cream addition is inspired!
    Thanks for another great dish!

    Reply
    • Ania says

      December 15, 2019 at 2:03 pm

      Great to hear, Grahame! Thank you for letting me know that you enjoyed it! Ania

      Reply
  4. Christine says

    February 21, 2020 at 6:49 am

    Hi Ania. Made this last night. It was absolutely delicious. I kept going back into the kitchen to get another spoonful . I did not have any dried porcinis unfortunately so just had to rely on my veggie broth and white wine. I did use a splash of lemon juice instead of balsamic. It still tasted wonderful. I will make it again but will make sure I have the dried porcinis as I think that will add a whole different dimension to the dish. Thanks for your wonderful recipes. I am making your potato gratin this weekend – cannot wait to dig into that.

    Reply
    • Ania says

      February 21, 2020 at 2:23 pm

      Thanks for your kind words, Christine! I am delighted to hear that you enjoy my recipes! Yes, I do feel that porcini (or other aromatic dried wild mushroom) really do make a difference to this dish. I hope you’ll be able to locate them. x Ania

      Reply
  5. Tracy says

    April 10, 2020 at 10:05 am

    Sounds delicious! Can’t wait to make this but thought I’d best check as The recipe says 40g of dried mushrooms but in the method it says use 20g for mushrooms/cashew cream? Do I add the other 20g in with the fresh mushrooms? Thanks

    Reply
    • Ania says

      April 10, 2020 at 5:58 pm

      Hi Tracy,

      I simply chopped the other half up and added back to the risotto, but you can add them to the cream if you prefer. Hope you’ll enjoy this dish! x Ania

      Reply
  6. Keiko says

    January 26, 2021 at 9:34 pm

    This is my 4th time cooking your beautiful risotto. My boyfriend says this risotto is restaurant quality! Thank you x

    Reply
    • Ania says

      January 27, 2021 at 1:46 pm

      Aw, thank you for your kind words, Keiko! I’m delighted to hear that you and your boyfriend enjoy it so much! x Ania

      Reply

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Ania Marcinowska
Hi, I'm Ania. I love good food but I love animals more! Adopting a plant-based diet has been the best decision I've made and that's how this blog was born. It's a space where I want to show you that creating delicious plant-based food isn't actually hard at all.
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