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This vegetable risotto is smooth and creamy and is packed full of vegetables, but you would never know as most of them dissolve right into the dish. Great for picky eaters that don't like seeing veggies in their food!
I have always loved risotto and made it all the time when I was younger, it was my go to comfort food. When my eldest was born, I still continued to make it often. When he started eating with us I crammed in as many vegetables that I could and started used home-made stock to reduce the sodium levels.
This vegetable risotto is easy to make but does require time and attention. The smooth, creamy texture is definitely worth it though and I'm sure your kids will think so too.
Step By Step Shots
Cooking Tips
RICE - The key to a good risotto is they type of rice used. It needs to be an Italian variety that has the correct starches to produces a creamy texture when cooked. Arborio, Vialone Nano and Carnaroli are the most common varieties. I usually use Arborio because it is the easiest to find here. Don't be tempted to use a variety that doesn't have enough starch, you will not achieve the same creamy result.
Because the starch is so valuable when making risotto, never rinse the rice before cooking.
You need to toast the rice before adding the stock. It will slowly change colour and becomes shinier. You only need to do this for a couple of minutes. If you do it for too long the rice will get too hot and will lock in the starch
STOCK - Risotto is basically rice cooked in stock (broth) so ideally, you want to use a tasty one. I recommend using a home made vegetable or chicken stock. I know it sounds like a lot of effort but it is actually really easy to make and it freezes well. This way you can control the sodium levels.
Commercial stock is often high in sodium and not suitable for babies and children. You can buy low salt / baby stock cubes but I was never keen on the flavour they produced. That being said, when I used them the boys never complained. Another option would be using a reduced sodium stock and water it down.
Always use hot stock and add it to the rice 1-2 ladles at a time, only adding more when the rice has absorbed the stock. The image above (step 4 & 5) illustrates this.
This vegetable risotto is a great dish that can easily be adapted to suit whatever you have in the fridge. Just use the method below but substitute the vegetables with what your kid likes / or you fancy that day. I grated and finely chopped the vegetables and they pretty much disintegrated into the dish. I feel you can pack in extra veggies when you do that.
If you love this dish then why not try turning it into baked arancini, where the vegetable risotto is cooled and formed into balls before coating in breadcrumbs and baking.
You may also like this slow cooker risotto for days when you don't have the time and attention to give to stovetop risotto!
Other Rice Recipes...
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Sundried Tomato and Vegetable Risotto
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 10g butter
- 1 onion - finely chopped
- 1 Celery Stalk, finely chopped
- 1 carrot - grated *SEE NOTE 1
- 2 cloves of garlic - crushed
- 1 zucchini (courgette) grated *SEE NOTE 1
- 45g 4 sun dried tomatoes - finely chopped
- 250g (1 ½ cups) risotto rice *SEE NOTE 2
- 1.5 litres (6 cups) Stock (broth), hot. *SEE NOTE 4
- 55g (½ cup) peas
- 55g parmesan cheese *SEE NOTE 5
Instructions
- Heat the oil and butter in a pan, add the onions, celery, carrots and garlic, and fry on a low heat for about 5 mins.
- Add the zucchini and sun-dried tomatoes and fry for a further 5 mins. When the vegetables have softened, add the rice and turn up the heat.
- Continually stir the rice for about a minute until the rice starts to look a little transparent.
- Turn down the heat and add a ladle of hot stock and continue to stir. Once absorbed add another ladle of stock and keep stirring. Continue adding the stock, a ladle at a time, until the rice is cooked (soft with a slight bite) *SEE NOTE 6
- Add the peas and stir through.
- Remove from the heat and add the parmesan cheese. Cover and allow to sit for a couple of minutes before serving.
Recipe Notes
- I grate the vegetables so I can cram in a ton of vegetables. They basically dissolve into the dish. If you have a fussy eater you may wish to peel the zucchini before grating so there are no green flecks. You can also chop the grated vegetables to make them even smaller.
- Make sure to use an Italian variety of rice. Arborio, Vialone Nano and Carnaroli are the most common varieties. Never pre-rinse the rice.
- The stock you use makes a big difference to this dish. You want to use a tasty one. I recommend making your own. Make sure to use low sodium or homemade stock if making for babies and young children, making your own stock allows you to control the sodium levels. The stock should be HOT when you add it to the rice.
- Parmesan cheese will increase the sodium level so this is optional. You can easily miss it out if serving a baby / young child. I always buy a block of parmesan and freshly grate it. Alternatively, you could use grated parmesan from the chill section. Don't use the ambient cheese you can buy in the pasta aisle, it will greatly change the taste!
- You know the rice is cooked when you can press a grain between your fingers and the white in the middle breaks. If the germ is still hard, the risotto isn't cooked.
Nutritional facts
This recipe was published in Dec 2013 but updated with cooking tips and new photos in Jan 2018.
Tia Hollings
This is my new favourite recipe. I don’t even know how it tastes so good, but it’s AMAZING! My 6 year old asked for seconds, what a win. Thank you
Amy Whiteford
Thanks Tia! So happy it was a hit.
Carmen
I love this I've made it probably 5 times actually making it right now! I love saving half and making it into the baked arancini from your other recipe! Two meals in one so good and so many veggies ♥️
Amy
I'm so happy you enjoy this and make the arancini too, thanks for taking the time to rate and comment Carmen. 🙂
Alex
Does this work okay without cheese ?
Amy
Hi Alex, yes you can miss out the cheese, it just gives a boost of flavour 🙂
Maria
We’ve made his twice in the last three days. We absolutely love this!!! I’m gonna have a go at making the baked arancini balls too 🙂 thanks!
Amy
Thanks Maria, so glad you like it. YES, give the arancini balls a go (great if you ever have leftovers) 🙂
Anna
Hi Amy,
Does this freeze well? (I’m always looking for things I can freeze so I can produce tea in moments when we get in from a long day!)
I love your recipes, as does my little boy!
Thanks you!
Anna
TheSpanishMom
Are leftovers of this recipe good for the next day or will the rice be too dry by then? I'm cooking the meals for daycare for my baby and I was wondering if I can cook this the day before. Thanks!
Amy
My kids are happy to eat leftovers the next day or sometimes we turn the leftovers into rice balls ??
Ignacio
Hmm is anyone else experiencing problems with the images on this blog
loading? I'm trying to find out if its a problem on my end or if
it's the blog. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
amy
Are you still having problems with the images loading? Nobody else has mentioned this to me before.
emma
There's no tomato in the recipe 😀
Still sounds good tho lol
amy
Sorted! Thanks for pointing it out!