Prep time: 15 minutes (less if using frozen vegetables)

Clean up time: 5 minutes

Serves 4

I think this might be my favourite recipe ever! And that’s saying a lot after all the delicious cookies I’ve been making lately. It almost feels like I’ve forgotten how to cook anything else. Every time I’m cooking it’s time for more baked risotto! My recipe is based on Eleanor Ozich’s Oven-baked leek risotto with peas, mint + parmesan. My version resulted from never having the correct ingredients and is fully plant-based. It’s such a versatile recipe and makes risotto cooking hands and fuss free. It’s full of delicious nourishing veggies and can be prepped in advance with minimal cleanup. Totally my kind of recipe!

Joey’s Baked Veggie Risotto

- based on Eleanor Ozich's Oven-baked Risotto

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
5-6 cups of chopped vegetables frozen or fresh (see tips)
1 small brown onion finely chopped
1 lemon quartered with seeds removed
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
4 cups of vegetable stock
2 cups of water
1-2 tablespoons of dried herbs (see tips)
Splash of extra virgin olive oil
Salt & pepper for seasoning

METHOD

-Pre-heat oven to 200°C

-In a large baking dish add all the ingredients and mix.

-Season with salt and pepper and bake for 50-60 minutes. Almost all of the liquid should be absorbed and the rice tender. (I’ve found ovens vary so check at about 40 minutes and adjust accordingly.)

-Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before serving

-Serve with sprouts of course!

Ingredient Tips:

-Arborio rice is traditionally used for making risotto. It has a high starch content which gives it a soft creamy texture. I’ve also made this recipe with brown rice when I’ve been out of Arborio. It took a lot longer to cook, so if you are using plain rice leave the 2 cups of water out.

-My favourite combo of vegetables is cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, and broccoli, but any combo works. Putting the cherry tomatoes in whole means there is a sweet burst of flavour, and the mushrooms give it a savoury edge.

-It’s also a great recipe for the night before shopping day. If frozen veggies are all you have they work just as well.

-For the risotto in the photographs I used:

1 cup whole cherry tomatoes
2 cups thinly sliced white button mushrooms
2 cups diced eggplant
1 cup of broccoli chopped into bite sized pieces.

-Who knew baked lemon could add so much flavour? Probably everyone else, but not a cooking novice like me. I’ve also tried cutting the lemon smaller which intensifies the lemon flavour but makes the pieces a bit harder to pick out. Both taste great, so it would depend on your preference.

-I subbed nutritional yeast into the recipe instead of parmesan cheese. It is commonly used in cooking to add a savoury cheese like flavour, and is a great source of protein, B vitamins and trace minerals. I used to find it quite hard to get hold of but it is now stocked in most supermarkets and bulk food stores.

-A good quality vegetable stock really compliments this recipe. We use Rapunzel Organic Vegetable Bouillon and it creates a lovely base flavour to the risotto. I also love that it has minimal packaging and is organic. And hot tip - some chicken and beef stocks are plant-based too, so the stock you have in the cupboard might be fine to use.

-The original recipe called for fresh herbs. Although we grow a lot of produce in our garden, I find it hard to grow herbs and not have them go to seed. I also hate how much packaging comes with store brought fresh herbs (a plastic bag at least, if not a pot that can’t be recycled as well). A couple of tablespoons of dried herbs seems to do the trick with this recipe and you can choose which flavours you prefer. We like to use combinations of rosemary, thyme, oregano, and dried coriander.

Preparation & Clean Up Tips:

-Another thing I love about this recipe is the minimal prep and clean up that’s required. One dish, a knife, and a chopping board is all that’s really required.

-My baking dish is full to the brim when I make this so I’ve found it easier to keep the 2 cups of water aside and add them once the dish is in the oven. Otherwise I tend to spill it all over the floor and oven door as I transfer it to the oven. I really am a novice in the kitchen!

-Although this recipe doesn’t take much time, you do need to be a bit organised to get it in the oven in time for dinner. I’ve taken to prepping all the veggies and stock at lunch time and leave it sitting on the bench to assemble just before I pop it in the oven when we get back from school and after school activities. The great thing about veggies is you can leave them out without worrying they will spoil and go bad.

-The original recipe called for baking the risotto at 180°C for 40-50 minutes but I found this really didn’t work in my oven. It was still very watery even after an hour at 180°C. Bumping it up to 200°C seemed to do the trick, but I would be checking around the 40 minute mark to make sure it’s not too hot or burning.

-This dish also tastes great the next day. We get three meals out of it - dinner and one serving of lunch. We do tend to have big portions for dinner so I think it would comfortably feed four people.

And that’s a wrap! I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we have. I think I can actually say it’s changed my life. It makes dinnertime prep a lot less stressful and is so delicious. It’s also packed full of nourishment from the veggies and whole food ingredients. I love how it’s a little bit different each time I make it depending on what combination of vegetables are used. It will be interesting to see how it evolves over the summer as new vegetables come into season. I’ll keep you posted! Go bake some risotto and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I am not a nutritionist or health professional. I have completed a certificate in Plant-Based Nutrition from eCornell and have done in-depth research about plant-based living. The information I trust is mostly sourced from medical professionals that are leading the way in this plant-based revolution. Check out my recommended page for more info.