A fairly simple but flavorful carrot risotto made mostly from basic pantry ingredients plus some patience and time.
Course Dinner, Lunch, Main Course
Cuisine Caribbean, Italian
Keyword Carrots, Comfort Food, Rice, Risotto
Prep Time 30 minutesminutes
Cook Time 45 minutesminutes
Servings 6
Ingredients
6medium carrotsRoughly chop half into large pieces and dice half very small.
½tbspolive oil
1tbspbrown sugar
1 tspkosher salt
1tbspolive oil
1large shallotdiced small
1cupArborio rice
1tbspcurry powderI used Colombo powder which I found in Martinique but any yellow curry powder would be fine.
1/2 cupdry white wine
8cupschicken or vegetable stockBrought to a boil and then kept warm on the burner; you might not need all of this stock.
¼cuphalf & halfSubstitute full fat coconut milk to make this vegan.
1tbspbutter
kosher salt to taste
ground black pepperto taste
Instructions
Heat the oven to 375F. On a baking sheet, toss the roughly chopped larger carrot pieces with ½ tsp. olive oil, 1 tsp. salt, and 1 tbsp. brown sugar. Cook for about 30 minutes stirring every 10 minutes. The carrots should be caramelized and soft. Blend with about ½ of chicken stock in a blender or food processor until you have a smooth puree. Set aside.
In a medium pot, heat 1 tbsp. olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the shallot, finely diced carrot, and a pinch of salt. Cook for about 3 minutes until the vegetables are soft and the shallots are translucent.
Add the curry powder and cook for about a minute to toast which will heighten the flavor.
Add the rice to the pot and stir to coat in the oil and curry powder. Add a big pinch of salt, too.
Add the white win to the pan and stir. Cook until the wine has been absorbed by the rice.
Turn the heat down to medium-low. At this point, you're going to add the hot stock to the pot one ladleful at a time stirring often. Here's how I like to do it: stir a ladleful of stock into the risotto. Stop stirring for a minute or so and let the stock come back to a simmer then stir again. Repeat. Don't add another ladleful of stock until the previous one has been absorbed by the rice and when you scrape the bottom of the pot with the spoon you, the rice will part and take a moment to run back together. Keep adding stock in this way until the rice is tender. It will probably take about 45-minutes. You might not use all of the stock. You might need more and if that's the case, you can actually just add some water to the stockpot to finish cooking the risotto.
Finish the risotto by stirring in the carrot puree, half and half, and butter. Taste and season with more salt and some black pepper to your liking.
Notes
Make this vegan by using vegetable stock, coconut milk, and vegan butter.
Here's a link to Colombo powder if you'd like to try it. I love it and it really reminds me of our trip to Martinique!