Risotto is comfort food at its best. And while it is usually meat-free, the butter and Parmesan cheese keep it from being vegan. Try our recipe below for a delicious dish that is so full of flavour, you will not even miss the dairy darlings.

Is your PCAA (Parmesan Cheese Addicts Anonymous) status standing in your way of going vegan? Well, try to make your own vegan version with only 5 ingredients – click here. And remember to open a bottle of Leopard’s Leap  wine – they are all vegan! Trying to steer clear from alcohol, we have you covered with our De-alcoholised Natura Classic White or Red!

Vegan Tomato and Roasted Mediterranean Vegetable Risotto

Ingredients

For the roasted vegetables

1 tablespoon olive oil

300 g cherry tomatoes

2 red peppers

1 large courgette, zucchini

generous pinch of salt and pepper

For the risotto

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large red onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

225 g risotto rice

125 ml  Leopard’s Leap Natura Classic White

125 ml passata

250 ml vegetable stock

6 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped into small chunks

small bunch of fresh basil, torn

salt and pepper, to taste

optional vegan Parmesan

Method

To roast the vegetables

Preheat the oven to 180 ºC and spoon the olive oil into a roasting pan.

Chop the vegetables into small chunks and spread out in the roasting pan, adding the salt and pepper before giving everything a shake to coat.

Roast for 30 minutes.

To make the risotto

Meanwhile, add olive oil to a casserole pot, on a low-medium heat.

Fry the onion for a few minutes before adding the minced garlic, and cook for another minute.

Stir in the rice with the wine, to coat it in the oil.

Pour in the passata and vegetable stock, ½ cup at a time, alternating between the two. Allow each amount to be absorbed by the rice before adding the next.

After 20 minutes, add in the sun-dried tomatoes and the roasted vegetables. Give everything a stir, adding more liquid if needed, and cook for a further 5 minutes until everything is cooked through and the rice is done.

Remove from the heat and stir in the basil, salt and pepper and vegan cheese. Feel free to stir in any extra oil or dairy-free butter at this point, for an extra creamy risotto.

Serve immediately.