Meatless Monday with Vegan Baked Mushroom Risotto and Caramelized Onions

Hello and welcome (back) to the Miratel blog for another Meatless Monday. We took the Meatless Monday pledge as part of our CSR business initiatives in support of reducing meat consumption one day per week (15%) to live a healthier and more earth-friendly manner. We feature a new recipe each Monday to help achieve this goal.

Tonight we are elevating simple risotto by teaming it with delicious antioxidant-rich mushrooms and sweet caramelized onions. Our vegan Baked Mushroom Risotto and Caramelized Onions will have your kitchen smelling like a trattoria. I came across this recipe on Pinterest from the website The Kitchn – a glorious site and worth a visit if you haven’t had the pleasure as yet.

Mushroom Risotto with Caramelized Onions Ingredients – serves 4 to 6

Photo courtesy of thekitchn.com

•  1/2 ounce dried shiitake or porcini mushrooms, finely chopped
• 2 cups boiling water
• 1/3 cup olive oil, divided
• 4 yellow onions (about 2 pounds)
• 4 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1/2 pound cremini mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
• 1 large sprig fresh rosemary
• 1 cup Arborio or short-grain white rice
• 1/2 cup dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to garnish

Directions:

1. Heat the oven to 300°F. Rinse the dried mushrooms lightly, to remove any dust or grit. Place the mushrooms in a ceramic bowl and pour the boiling water over them. Set them aside to steep while you cook the onions.
2. Chop one of the onions into a fine dice. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a 3-quart (or larger) ovenproof pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 8 minutes, or until soft and golden. Push the onions to the side of the pot, and turn the heat up to medium-high. Add all the sliced cremini mushrooms and let them cook for 5 minutes without stirring. Flip the mushrooms and cook for another five minutes, or until they are quite brown and a crust is developing on the bottom of the pan.
3. Drain the dried mushrooms, reserving the liquid. Add the mushrooms and rosemary sprig to the pan and sauté briefly, mixing with the onion and the rest of the mushrooms. Add the rice and cook, stirring once or twice, for about 4 minutes, or until the rice begins to turn transparent.
4. Turn the heat to high and add the white wine, vinegar, broth, and reserved mushroom steeping liquid. Stir and scrape the bottom of the pan as you add the liquid to deglaze any yummy mushroomy bits sticking to the pan. Stir in the salt and pepper.
5. Bring to a boil. Cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid and put it in the oven to bake for 35 minutes.
6. While the rice is baking, make the caramelized onions. Heat the remaining olive oil in a cast iron skillet. Cut the remaining three onions in half, and then slice them into thin half moons. Add them to the oil and sprinkle liberally with salt. Cook on low heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions turn a dark mahogany brown. Let them go as long as you can; I usually cook mine for at least 30 minutes.
7. When the risotto has finished baking, let it stand uncovered for 5 minutes before serving. Dish it up and top each bowl with a spoonful of caramelized onions, a little extra pepper, and, if desired, a scoop of whipped Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese.

This dish may seem a little intimidating but it’s well worth the effort for the depth of flavour and it’s vegan too.

We encourage you to visit the Meatless Monday website  and join us in taking the pledge to reduce meat consumption one day per week. It’s easy with delicious recipes like this one. Spread the word at work to promote the value of CSR business initiatives and make your green call centre, office, factory, shop, restaurant, hotel or salon even greener.

Enjoy and our thanks to The Kitchn.

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Miratel Solutions is a Toronto call centre, eBusiness, and letter shop mail house specializing in professional fundraising services including telephone fundraising, online fundraising, lottery services, donation caging, donation processing and other donor management services. We are committed to our CSR business values in all contact centre services and mail house operations and advancing the missions of the nonprofits we proudly serve.