v:gourmet

This just in – and apologies to dairy farmers and the fine cheesemakers of Parma – I’ve veganized my favourite Risotto recipe and it’s just as good without the butter and parmigiano. Italian sacrilege, I’m sure, but true. Not only did the original recipe call for butter and parmigiano, but pancetta as well! No matter. It’s just as good without all of that in its pure, unadulterated, vegan form. Eat it and weep folks.

1 tbsps olive oil

1 onion, chopped finely

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 cup arborio rice

1 cup white wine

dried porcini mushrooms

4 cups veggie stock

fresh thyme

1 1/2 cups corn niblets

salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Add onion and garlic and saute until fragrant. Add arborio rice and stir until well coated, about 3 minutes. Meanwhile, boil white wine with dried porcini mushrooms to rehydrate mushrooms. Remove mushrooms, chop, and add to rice mixture. Add stock slowly, just covering rice, and stir continuously. Continue to slowly add stock and wine and continue to stir. Risotto is all about the spoon – slowly add and stir, keep sitrring, keep adding stock and wine. When the risotto is almost al dente, add corn, thyme, and salt + pepper to taste. When done, adjust seasoning, put in a big, beautiful serving bowl, and warn everyone how delicious it will be. If there are non-vegans at the table, top half with grated parmigiano and don’t whisper a word. They’ll never know.