This meal will take longer to prepare than typical risotto due to the nature of brown rice, but it will be well worth the wait. Feel free to modify the recipe to use whatever seasonal ingredients are in season where you live.
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 30 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
| Yield: | 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 quart vegetable broth, or as needed
- 5 cups water, or as needed
- ½ pound asparagus, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup finely chopped onion
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 2 cups short-grain brown rice
- 2 carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 zucchini, diced
- ½ cup green peas, thawed if frozen
- ⅔ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon butter
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Bring vegetable broth and water to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Add asparagus, reduce heat to low, and simmer until just tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer asparagus to a bowl of ice water; let chill for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside. Meanwhile, cover saucepan and keep broth mixture at a near-simmer on low heat.
- Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Stir in onion and garlic; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Add rice and cook, stirring gently, until toasted and fragrant, 4 to 5 minutes.
- Pour 1 cup of the hot broth mixture into the rice and cook, stirring constantly, until liquid is almost absorbed. Adjust heat if necessary to maintain a simmer. Repeat, using 1/2 cup liquid at a time, until rice is just beginning to become tender, about 25 minutes.
- Stir in diced carrots. Continue adding broth and stirring rice mixture until carrots are just tender, about 20 minutes more. Mix in zucchini; if broth mixture gets low, add hot water as needed. Cook and stir, adding broth, until rice is tender, about 5 minutes.
- Mix in drained asparagus and peas and cook until heated through, 2 to 3 minutes, Add Parmesan and butter, stirring until butter melts. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour in an additional 1/2 cup hot broth to the finished risotto for a softer consistency, if desired.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 322 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 47 g |
| Cholesterol | 13 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 6 g |
| Protein | 10 g |
| Saturated Fat | 4 g |
| Sodium | 500 mg |
| Sugars | 7 g |
| Fat | 11 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
This was delicious but it took almost an hour to cook the rice. Perhaps soaking the rice first would cut down on cook time. I used what veggies are in season.
I cooked this for an hour and the rice was still very hard and the vegetables were mush. I did the recipe to the letter. Had to trash it. Will not try again.
For me, this was labor intensive. That phrase “…stirring constantly” is not to be taken lightly. I wish I steamed the vegetables first but brown rice just takes a loooooong time to cook. Once I ran out of broth, I used some cheap white wine. It was fine in the end but not stellar.
Fantastic! I have never made risotto before and am thrilled! I love it! Added red peppers and no carrots. Thank you!
Made this with eggplant parm the other night for some friends who absolutely hate vegetables, not only did it draw high praise, but everyone had seconds! Yum, yum, yum!
Very good recipe. Tweaked just a little and was able to cook it within 30 mins to 45 mins! Will definitely use again!!
It was delicious. My first time making risotto and I was very pleased with it. Will continue to make it from now on.
This is a lovely idea. Short grain brown rice is not easy to find, but it’s worth it. I didn’t use any water, but otherwise used all the ingredients in the recipe. It took both more time to cook and more liquid than stated in the recipe, about another quart of stock. Used only veggie stock. Although delicious, it is not risotto, but I would likely make it again. Thanks!
Although I made a lot of changes, I still give this recipe the props for getting me to a delicious brown rice risotto! First, I used chicken broth instead of vegetable broth because that’s what I had on-hand. Second, I only used the onion from this recipe, and added mushrooms a few minutes after sautéing the onion and garlic (used mushrooms because I was pairing this with chicken marsala). The mushroom flavor really stood out at the end – it was delicious! Will definitely be making this again, maybe next time with more veggies!
The cooking til tender, actually took me 80 minutes! That is 80 minutes of stirring and standing at the stove.! Even though I cut my veggies up (except the onion that I started with) in between stirring , that is still a long time! But I was determined to make healthier *brown* rice risotto. I also had to use over 12 cups of liquid instead of the 10 the recipe called for. I changed 1 cup of that to white wine to add more flavor . And ,7 cups was broth and the remaining water. The result was a delicious veggie risotto that I *might* make again if I pull up a chair and call my favorite chatty friend.. haha…
This recipe took a very long time to make but was pretty good. The smell is FANTASTIC, the first few bites were delicious, but the more I ate it, the more I got tired of the taste. I paired it with ritz crackers and a tarty drink & it balanced the flavor out. It is more suited as a side. Also, this is waaay more than six servings. I think I served myself two and it was less that 1/6 of the entire recipe.