Saturday, June 26, 2010: Vegan Risotto Pie

Vegan Risotto Pie Inspired by Mela in Yorkville, Toronto

In olive oil:
Saute finely diced onion/shallots with minced garlic and add dried basil

Add sliced mushrooms and keep stirring until the mushrooms have released their juices.

Add around 1/2 cup of uncooked rice (I used brown short grain organic rice even though traditional risotto insists upon Arborio rice which apparently goes creamier--I suspect it has higher starch content) and coat with the oil in the pan.

Slowly add an equal amount of Vermouth (I think you can also use white wine) a little at a time, letting each addition be absorbed before adding more.

THEN I completely go off the charts and I just DUMP IN 1 cup ( basically one part rice, two parts liquid, here in case you want to scale up or down) of water/vegetable stock. This is a radical departure from traditional risotto cooking which requires you to stand and stir in little amounts of liquid, allowing each addition to be completely absorbed before adding more. I don't know what havoc will ensue if you tried just dumping in all the liquid in one go with Arborio rice, but I tried with short grain brown rice and it was FINE. Unless you need time by yourself and find stirring in liquid and watching rice slowly expand to be relaxing and beneficial, I say to heck with it! Throw in the liquid, let it reach bubbling, then turn down the heat to minimum, cover and let the rice aLONE.

Let's move on. While the rice cooks, peel and slice rutabaga/celery root/potato (choose just one or a combo of the roots), toss lightly with olive oil, place on a pie plate and roast in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 20 minutes.

When the root vegetables are done, pile torn kale on top of them and then either diced tomato/tomato sauce on top.

When rice is done, stir in soy cream cheese, black pepper and salt. Mix well and then put this on top of the root vegetable/kale/tomato layers. You might want to add a second layer of tomato substance on top of the rice. Put everything back into the oven for another 20-30 minutes.