Sweet Pea & Corn Risotto | Vegan

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This Sweet Pea & Corn Risotto is the perfect summertime meal! It’s rich, creamy, and packed with sweet summer corn. Plus it’s totally dairy-free & vegan!

Risotto is a northern Italian dish consisting of rice slow-cooked in a broth until it becomes soft and creamy. There are quite a few flavor variations of risotto, and today we’re giving it a plant-based twist!

This Sweet Pea & Corn Risotto is studded with sweet summer corn, a creamy pea puree, and plant-based parmesan cheese. It’s the perfect satisfying summer recipe!

bowl of sweet pea and corn risotto topped with microgreens and vegan parmesan on stone background

This recipe is extra special because it’s from my friend Haile Thomas’ new cookbook, Living Lively: 80 Plant-Based Recipes to Activate Your Power and Feed Your PotentialNot only is is a vegan cookbook, but it’s also an empowerment cookbook — the first half of the book guides you through Haile’s “7 Points of Power”, which aim to help you feel more aligned with yourself, so you can impact the world. The rest of the recipes are a combination of easy weekday/night bites and some fancier mains, this recipe being one of them. You can purchase Haile’s book wherever books are sold – don’t sleep on it!

two bowls of sweet pea and corn risotto next to haile thomas' new cookbook

INGREDIENTS FOR SWEET PEA & CORN RISOTTO

This recipe revolves around simple, plant-based foods. Many of the elements are used in more than one way, which helps to add layers of flavor and delicousness 🙂 Here are a few key ingredients:

  • Fresh Corn: the sweeter, the better! The starchiness of the corn also helps to make this recipe taste even heartier and cozy
  • Frozen Peas: cost-effective and sweet, frozen peas add nice depth of flavor, color, and plant-based protein
  • Onion & Garlic: for flavor, obviously!
  • Arborio Rice: this is a special type of Italian rice that absorbs liquid nicely and gives off a creamy, starchy sauce. You can find it in most grocery stores, or find it online. Standard white rice won’t work here, folks.
  • Vegan Cheese: cheese is a classic risotto ingredient, so today we’re swapping it out with a dairy-free alternative! Haile recommends using a plant-based parmesan or mozzarella
  • Olive Oil & Vegan Butter: a.k.a. key components to any rich and creamy risotto
  • Microgreens & Parsley: these dainty greens & herbs get dressed in lemon juice & olive oil to add a nice fresh component to our dish!

ingredients for sweet pea and corn risotto in small bowls on white background

HOW TO MAKE SWEET PEA & CORN RISOTTO

Risotto is a labor of love – standing over the stove and stirring your rice takes a bit of time, but the end result is more than worth it. Overall, the steps are pretty simple:

two photos of risotto in pot and risotto in serving bowl before topping

  1. Sauté your onion and garlic until tender, then add the rice and toast it lightly
  2. Simmer the arborio rice in warm vegetable broth, gradually adding more broth 1/2 cup at a time. This process is key for the best risotto! You’re looking for the rice to create a “wave-like” motion as you drag the spoon through the pan before adding more liquid.
  3. Stir in your fresh corn, pea puree, cheese, and more garlic into the risotto. This is where all the flavors combine!
  4. Serve in bowls, then top with a fresh microgreen salad, parsley, and lemon zest.

I’m telling you, friends – this recipe is delicious. My partner Dylan and I were so happy with how it turned out! The risotto is rich, creamy, and has crazy depth of flavor. We also loved how the microgreen salad added a pop of freshness to cut through the richness of the rice. Haile says this recipe serves 4 – if you serve it with a side salad, I think you could even stretch it out to 6 or 8.

This Sweet Pea & Corn Risotto is the perfect date-night or dinner party recipe! It’s definitely best served fresh, but you can reheat leftovers with a little extra vegetable broth on the stove until the risotto loosens up and turns creamy again.

bowl of sweet pea corn risotto topped with microgreens and vegan parmesan

If you’re looking for more summertime dinner recipes, you’ll also love this Summer Corn Chowder and this Vegan Lemon Ricotta Pasta!

Finally, if you make this recipe and decide to share it on Facebook or Instagram, don’t forget to tag me @FromMyBowl, and Haile @HaileThomas! We’d love to see your delicious recreation 🙂

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Sweet Pea & Corn Risotto

This Sweet Pea & Corn Risotto is the perfect summertime meal! It’s rich, creamy, and packed with sweet summer corn. Plus it’s totally dairy-free & vegan!

  • Author: Caitlin Shoemaker
  • Prep Time: 20 Minutes
  • Cook Time: 40 Minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour
  • Yield: Serves 4-6 1x
  • Category: Main
  • Method: Stovetop
  • Cuisine: American
  • Diet: Vegan

Ingredients

Scale

For the Risotto Mix-Ins:

  • 2 cups (270 g) frozen peas; 1 cup left frozen, 1 thawed
  • 2 ears of sweet corn, husked

For the Risotto:

  • 5 cups (1200 ml) vegetable broth (store-bought or homemade)
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon vegan butter, plus 2 tablespoons for serving (optional)
  • 1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • kosher salt, to taste
  • 2 cups (370 g) Arborio rice
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder*
  • 1/21 cup (3060 g) shredded vegan parmesan cheese

For the Toppings:

  • 3/4 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt & black pepper, to taste
  • Handful of microgreens
  • 1/4 cup parsley, roughly chopped
  • Grated lemon zest

Instructions

  1. Prepare the Mix-Ins*: Set up a bowl of ice and water. In a saucepan of boiling salted water, blanch 1 cup of frozen peas for 1 minute. Drain the peas and shock them in the ice water. When the peas have cooled, drain them and pat them dry with paper towels. Transfer to a food processor and puree until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed. Set aside.
  2. Grate 1 ear of the corn using the large holes of a box grater. Place the corn pulp in a bowl. Slice the kernels from the remaining ear of corn by laying it flat on your cutting board and slicing down one side at a time. Add the kernels to the corn pulp and set aside.
  3. Make the Risotto: in a medium saucepan, heat the broth over low heat until slightly simmering. In a deep saucepan, heat the oil and butter over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté for 3 to 5 minutes, until translucent. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Add the rice and stir over low heat until it begins to whiten.
  4. Add 1/2 cup of the broth along with salt and pepper to taste and simmer over low heat, stirring frequently until almost all of the liquid has evaporated. Add 1 1/2 cups of the borth and simmer, stirring frequently, until the liquid is almost fully absorbed. Add the rest of the broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring frequently and waiting until each 1/2 cup is absorbed before adding more. Cook until the rice is creamy, 20 to 25 minutes.
  5. Add the Mix-Ins: When the rice is  nearly done, mix in the garlic powder, vegan cheese, pea puree, thawed peas, and corn mixture. Adjust the seasoning as desired and remove from the heat. Stir in the additional 2 tablespoons of vegan butter, if using.
  6. Prep the Toppings: In a medium bowl, combine the lemon juice, olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Add the microgreens to the bowl and toss to coat.
  7. Serve: Divide the risotto among four to six bowls and top each with microgreens, parsley, and lemon zest. Enjoy immediately!

Notes

  • Blanching the Peas: I did not want to set up a pot to blanch my peas, so instead I placed my peas in a bowl, brought water to a boil in my electric kettle, poured it over the peas, and let them sit for 2 minutes. I then drained the peas and let them sit in the ice bath until cool – this worked perfectly!
  • Other Substitutions: I made this recipe with only 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder, 1/2 cup of vegan cheese, and omitted the extra butter. I found it to be rich and delicious as-is!
  • From LIVING LIVELY by Haile Thomas Copyright © 2020 by Haile Thomas. Reprinted by permission of William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

Keywords: corn risotto, vegan risotto, vegan corn recipe, vegan corn risotto, pea risotto

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About the Author

Hey there, I’m Caitlin! I make easy-to-follow, wholesome, and budget-friendly vegan recipes that are mostly gluten-free and refined sugar-free. I’m also an avid yogi, love the great outdoors, am chocolate-obsessed, and enjoy eating almond butter straight off of the spoon.

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Comments

  1. Damn that looks so good ???? I bet the sweet corn makes it so creamy! Super excited to check out Haile’s blog ????