Leila’s Rosemary, Butternut Squash & Saffron Risotto

Leila Buffery, iEG recipe contributor

What do I need?

(serves a healthy two!)

• 1 Cup of Arborio Rice
• 1 1/2 cups of chopped Butternut Squash
• A large sprig of Rosemary
• 1 Carrot
• 2 large Garlic Cloves
• 1 Onion
• 1/2 a Courgette (Zucchini)
• 1/2 a cup of Cherry Tomatoes
• 1 TBSP Olive Oil
• 2 Stock Cubes
• 4 cups of boiling Water
• 1/2 a cup of Nutritional Yeast
• A tiny pinch of Saffron

BUT, HOW DO I MAKE IT?!

1. As always, the first step here is to preheat your oven. If you don’t, you’re going to have a cup of rock hard butternut squash and the joke is truly going to be on you. So, get that guy warming up to about 200 degrees.
2. While you’re waiting for this, chop up the squash (skin on!) into cubes and roll them around in a baking tray with the tbsp of oil, salt, pepper and the chopped rosemary. When the oven is piping hot, toss ‘em in for about 20 minutes.
3. While the squash is roasting, add into a pan the coconut oil, diced onion, garlic, courgette and carrot. Once these are starting to sizzle, add the dry risotto rice to the pan. Stir occasionally and prepare the stock with the boiling water and stock cubes in a jug. (Check on the butternut squash and give it a little shake around to make sure it’s not sticking!)
4. After a minute or so, add a large splash of stock to the rice– watch yoself because it’ll bubble up real fast. Stir thoroughly until the rice has soaked up the liquid and add more along with the saffron.
5. Repeat this step until all the stock has gone and the rice is cooked.
6. Add the nutritional yeast and cherry tomatoes. I add the tomatoes late because I like them to have a bit of a bite to them. At this point I turn off the hob and let the rice warm them through.
7. Finally, stir in the oven cooked squash and crispy rosemary including the oil from the tray as it has heaps of flavour! Season with salt & pepper. Serve up, and if you have any spare, add a sprig of rosemary to the top so your guest thinks you’re really fancy.

And that’s it! Enjoy and don’t forget to tag #whatleilaeats in your creations. xxx

Leila Buffery, otherwise known as WhatLeilaEats, is a Brighton, UK chef/mischievous prankster who started her vegan journey with an ambition to inspire others to lead a cruelty-free lifestyle. Food to make your soul and tummy glow. Check out more of Leila’s vegan cooking on whatleilaeats.tumblr.com, and amazing food porn on her Instagram.