This carrot and leek risotto makes a fantastic vegetarian side dish. It is made with arborio rice, white wine and roasted carrots and leeks. Pair it with your favorite proteins or vegetarian main dishes for a nice easy meal.
Carrot and leek risotto is a wonderful side dish and one of my favorites. While risotto gets a bad wrap for being difficult make and time consuming, I have found that isn’t necessarily true. This is one of those recipes that are great as a side dish, and it is perfect for meal prep. It makes enough for the whole family and best of all it is quite healthy. I like to pair this risotto with fish and chicken, especially those in cream sauce.
In this recipe
There aren’t a lot of ingredients in this recipe, and you might need to pop on over to the store to pick up a few things. However, everything should be able to find easily in your local grocer.
Rice: you will want to get arborio or carnaroli rice for this recipe.
White wine: choose a dry white wine that you enjoy drinking, Pinot Gris is my go-to for this recipe.
Leeks: get leeks that are heavy for their size, firm, and green without any discoloration or drying.
While I use vegetable broth to keep this a vegetarian dish, if you are making this to accompany chicken then I would suggest using chicken broth as well to compliment your protein.
What kinds of rice are there for risotto?
There are several different varieties of rice that you can use for arborio. While there are quite a few I will focus on the ones that are normally more readily available and my favorite to use for date nights, when I want to spend just a little bit more.
Arborio: this is probably the most common rice you will find in your stores and the easiest to get ahold of. It is a good workhorse and great all-purpose rice for whenever you make risotto.
Carnaroli: this is my favorite for date nights or special occasions. This rice a more expensive than arborio and you might have to order it online or go to specialty store. However, it has a longer grain and more starch than arborio. This makes for a creamier risotto that is a bit harder to overcook.
Vialone Nano: this is the smallest of the rice grains that I use for risotto. This is also the staple variety for Northern Italy. It is pearl shaped and tends to cook faster than arborio, so it is good for when you don’t have a much time. The cooking time is only a few minutes shorter. This is on that you will need to visit a specialty shop or order online.
Roasting the vegetables
Before you can start with the rice you want to get the carrots and leeks roasting in the oven. You will need to clean the leeks. One of my favorite hacks for cleaning is to slice the leek in half without cutting the roots off. This will hold the halves together. Fan the cut sides out and pass under running water using your fingers to remove any dirt. This makes it so much easier. Dry and then drizzle the olive oil over the carrots and leeks. You want the cut sides down; this will keep most of the layers edges from scorching.
How to make the perfect risotto
Now this is the part to make sure you end up with the creamiest risotto without having to worry about it not getting over or undercooked. First get the skillet nice and hot over medium high heat and then add the rice. Once this rice gets a little fragrant then add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds. Add the white wine and there will be quite a bit of steam. Reduce the heat down to medium and stir until all of the wine is absorbed.
Then with a ladle add one ladle of the simmering vegetable broth and stir. There should be just a little bit of liquid in the pan and allow it to cook for a few minutes. Add another ladle of broth and stir again. You want to wait until there is barely any liquid left before adding another ladle of broth. Keep doing this until you are almost out of broth. By this time, you should have soft creamy rice. When you add the carrots and leeks add the last amount of brother and cheese and you are good to go.
Looking for other vegetarian sides recipes?
Roasted Carrot and Leek Risotto
Equipment
- Sheet pan
- Large skillet or casserole dish
- Saucepan
- Ladle
Ingredients
- 4 cups vegetable stock
- 1 cup white wine
- 1 cup arborio rice
- 2 carrots
- 1 leek
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese shredded
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon thyme
- 1 tablespoon garlic minced
- ½ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F, 200°C, or gas mark 6. In a saucepan bring the vegetable broth to a boil.4 cups vegetable stock
- Slice the carrots and leek in half lengthwise. Run the leek, cut side opened, under water to clean away the dirt. Slice off the roots at the bottom of the leek.2 carrots, 1 leek
- Place the carrots and leek on the sheet pan and drizzle 1 tablespoon oil to cover the vegetables. Place the carrots and leek, cut side down and place into the oven. Cook for 20 minutes.2 tablespoons olive oil
- Once the vegetable stock starts boiling, reduce to a simmer. Meanwhile heat a large skillet or casserole pan over medium-high heat, heat the remaining olive oil and arborio rice. Stir until rice becomes fragrant, add the garlic and cook for another 30 seconds, Then, add the white wine. Cook until it is absorbed.1 cup white wine, 1 cup arborio rice, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon garlic
- Reduce the heat to medium and using a ladle add one ladle full of vegetable stock. Stir to mix evenly and cook until the liquid is almost absorbed, about 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the thyme and repeat until all but a ladle full of vegetable broth remains. Remove from the heat.4 cups vegetable stock, 1 tablespoon thyme
- Take the carrots and leeks out of the oven and slice them. Add them to the risotto along with the remaining broth, pepper and parmesan cheese. Stir to combine and top with additional parmesan cheese if desired.2 carrots, ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, ½ teaspoon pepper, 1 leek
Nutrition
