Roasted Vegetable Risotto

5 from 1 vote

This roasted vegetable elegant date night dinner or colorful side dish!

Servings servings

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 35

Total Time 40

Equipment

Cast iron skillet
Large frying pan

Ingredients

Roasted Veggies

1 medium vine tomato whole, de-stemmed
2 medium Fresno peppers or other chili peppers, whole
2 medium shallots peeled

Risotto

½ tbsp olive oil
1 tsp minced garlic
¾ cup arborio rice
3 cups vegetable broth
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
¼ tsp Spanish smoked paprika
¼ tsp Turkish oregano
⅛ tsp ground turmeric
Salt & pepper to taste

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Roasted Veggies

First, prepare the roasted veggies. Preheat a cast iron skillet over medium-heat until it's very hot, then add the tomato, peppers, and shallots to the pan. Char the veggies on all sides until blistered, turning them over as needed, about 5 to 8 minutes total.
Remove the roasted veggies from the pan as they're done cooking and transfer to a cutting board. Let sit for at least 5 to 10 minutes before handling.

Risotto

To make the risotto, first heat olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat until shimmering. Once the oil is hot, add minced garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 1 to 2 minutes.
Next, add the arborio rice, stirring it for about 30 seconds or so to briefly toast the rice. Then stir in a half cup of the vegetable broth and increase the heat to bring the rice to a simmer. Stir occasionally to keep the rice from sticking to the pan, and watch for the rice to start absorbing the liquid. Once most of the liquid has been absorbed, after 3 to 4 minutes or so, stir in another half cup of the broth.
Continue cooking the rice, stirring occasionally and adding broth in half cup increments as the pan starts to dry out, until all the broth has been used. Keep the rice at a simmer (lower the heat if needed) and taste a few grains of rice towards the last addition or two of broth, to check for doneness. It should taste both creamy and chewy.
Once the rice is done, remove from heat. Stir in the lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, grated parmesan cheese, smoked paprika, oregano, and turmeric until well-combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Next, carefully de-stem and de-seed the chili peppers. Dice the peppers, tomato, and shallots, then gently fold them into the risotto. Serve immediately.

Notes

Roasting veggies: Different veggies will roast at different speeds - don't be afraid to take some things off the pan earlier than others! Use your intuition when cooking and remove the veggies from the pan once they're charred to your liking.

Making risotto: Again, it's important to use your intuition when cooking - especially when making risotto. Add the broth a little at a time, stir occasionally, and pay attention to when the pan starts looking dry - that's your cue to stir in some more broth. You want to keep it at a simmer so the rice cooks slowly and has a chance to absorb all the broth, so adjust the heat as needed based on how it looks, sounds, and smells!

Dicing the veggies: We recommend roasting the veggies before you start making the risotto, or right when you start making the risotto, so they have enough time to cool down before handling. They might still be hot when it's time to dice them, so be careful and use tongs to hold them in place while cutting if needed.

Flavoring your risotto: We like to add all the traditional flavors (lemon juice, EVOO, grated parm, salt and pepper) along with the dry seasonings to the risotto before folding in the veggies. This allows you to really incorporate all these flavors evenly into the cooked risotto. Then you can just gently fold in the diced veggies (make sure to get all the tomato juice in there, too!) and serve.

Serving sizes: This recipe makes about 3 servings for an appetizer or side dish. If you're making it as a main dish, one batch feeds about 2 people.

Author: Nicole Langdon

Calories: 283kcal

Course: Appetizer, Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine: Fusion, Italian

Keyword: arborio rice, cast iron, date night, extra virgin olive oil, fresno peppers, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, parmesan, shallots, tomatoes, vegetable broth

Nutrition