Roasted Red Pepper and Goat Cheese Risotto

This is the 500th post from Vegetarian & Cooking! and I cannot believe that we're already halfway to 1,000. This post comes at the perfect time because we have a lot of exciting things coming up as we move into Thanksgiving, Christmas and the two year anniversary of us starting this blog. In the meantime, check out the Milestones tab above to see all of our other milestone blogs and features.

This recipe was really popular on my Pinterest board, Recipes to Try and the photos from the original were stunning. Also, in my opinion you cannot go wrong with risotto, it is always absolutely delicious and the leftovers are a great thing to take to work for lunch.

Other risotto recipes: Tomato & Spinach Risotto, Corn Risotto, Champagne Risotto and Butternut Squash Risotto.

From the blog Sheer Luxe.

Ingredients: 
-1 small onion, diced
-2 cloves of garlic, minced
-Two tablespoons of butter
-1 1/4 cup of risotto rice
-1 cup of white wine
-4 cups of vegetable broth, heated
-Jar of roasted red peppers, drained
-Chunk of Parmesan, grated
-Splash of cream
-Handful of spinach, wilted
-Wedge of goat’s cheese

Melt butter in a large skillet, saute the garlic and onion over medium heat for about five minutes.

Stir in the arborio rice, coating with the onion, garlic and butter.
Pour in the wine, stirring until absorbed.
Slowly ladle in the hot vegetable broth, stirring until absorbed each time.

Once the last ladle of  stock has been added, drain the oil from the jar of roasted red pepper. Puree in a blender and add into the risotto with a splash of cream and some Parmesan. 

Serve the risotto with chunks pieces of goat cheese and topped with wilted spinach. 

To eat mix in the goat cheese and spinach into the risotto. 

Always a pretty presentation with such striking colors.

The roasted red pepper flavor was really strong in this, that made my mom not like it. I really enjoy roasted peppers and I thought this was fantastic. There was a nice depth of flavor to the risotto, the goat cheese was a nice creamy balance to the rich flavor of the roasted red pepper. The spinach added color and some additional texture to the risotto. The leftovers were good for lunch the next day.

This is something that would be great for a dinner party or for a nice date. There is nothing more impressive than when your date cooks a nice meal for you!

Tomato & Spinach Risotto

Whenever I'm not looking for a quick dinner to make, I love to make risotto. It is such a versatile dish and is always full of great flavor. This is the third risotto recipe I've tried and all three have turned out great.

Other Risotto Recipes: Champagne Risotto and Corn Risotto.

Ingredients:
-2-1/2 cups vegetable broth
-1 Tablespoon butter
-1 shallot, minced
-1 garlic clove, minced
-salt & pepper
-3/4 cup arborio rice
-1/4 cup dry white wine
-2 vine-ripened tomatoes, seeded & chopped
-2 cups baby spinach
-1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese


Bring the vegetable broth to a boil in a saucepan, then reduce to a simmer.

Melt butter in a large sauce pan.

Saute the shallot and garlic for three minutes.
Season.

Coat the rice in the butter mixture.
Add the wine, stir until absorbed.
Begin adding the vegetable broth 1/2 a cup at a time, stirring until almost absorbed before adding more.

When the last 1/2 a cup of broth is added, stir in the tomatoes.

Stir in spinach, continue cooking until wilted. 

Almost done.

Yummy risotto.

Top with parmesan cheese and butter if desired. 

This was the best risotto that we've made so far, the flavors melded well together, although the tomato and spinach weren't in the skillet for too long, they were warm. Not all of the vegetable broth absorbed into the rice, but overall this was still the best risotto so far. The rice was unbelievably creamy and it was a perfect comfort food for a cold night.