Asparagus & Pesto Risotto
An easy vegan baked risotto drenched in a delicious fresh pesto sauce! This is the perfect recipe for summertime evenings.
Ingredients
Risotto
- 1 cup (200 g) arborio rice
- 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 4 cups (1 l) vegetable stock
- 1 cup (145 g) frozen peas
- 1 head garlic
Asparagus
- 8 spears asparagus
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
- Salt and pepper
Pesto
- ½ cup (68 g) pine nuts
- 1 lemon juiced
- 1-2 garlic cloves
- A few handfuls of fresh basil
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 180C / 355F.
- Slice through the entire top of the head of garlic, so that each clove is uncovered on the tip. Brush on some olive oil to the exposed cloves, wrap in aluminum foil and place on the top shelf of the oven.
- Pour the rice, olive oil and first 500ml of vegetable stock into a medium sized deep oven dish, and place in middle of the oven.
- Now prep the asparagus by removing the last 1-2 inches of the stalk. Lay onto a baking tray and drizzle with the olive oil and vinegar, and liberal sprinklings of salt and pepper. Set aside- it's not going in the oven just yet.
- Now is a good time to make the pesto. In a mini food processor or blender, pulse the nuts, basil, garlic and lemon juice until finely ground before adding a stream of olive oil until you achieve the consistency you prefer.
- Once the risotto and garlic have been cooking for 15 minutes, remove from the oven and stir vigorously for a few minutes. This will allow the rice to start releasing starch and getting creamy.
- Place the risotto back in the oven and now add the asparagus to the top shelf alongside the garlic.
- After another 10 minutes, remove the risotto, stir again, mix in the peas and about another cup of vegetable stock. Replace in the oven.
- Wait another 15 minutes before removing the garlic. Quickly remove from the foil and place to one side so it can start cooling down.
- The risotto might be ready now. Give it a stir and taste it. If the rice is not cooked enough, add more stock and put back in the oven for another 10 minutes. Repeat until it's done and keep checking on the asparagus (if it's ready before the risotto is, just move it to the very bottom of the oven to keep warm) Once ready, you can take it out of the oven and allow to sit for 5 minutes while the garlic cools down. It will continue to absorb liquid so if it's looking dry at this point, stir in some additional stock.
- Once the garlic has cooled down, squeeze the caramelized cloves over the risotto and stir through.
- At this point the asparagus should also be ready if it wasn't already. Remove from the oven and place on top of the risotto, before drizzling the pesto on top.
- Bon appetit!
Calories: 398kcal, Carbohydrates: 53g, Protein: 8g, Fat: 17g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g, Monounsaturated Fat: 7g, Sodium: 945mg, Potassium: 269mg, Fiber: 4g, Sugar: 5g, Vitamin A: 799IU, Vitamin C: 18mg, Calcium: 29mg, Iron: 4mg