Forget heavy cheese sauces and carb-heavy potatoes—cauliflower is far more versatile. Its florets make a surprisingly creamy, flavorful risotto that's packed with nutrition.
Serves 4
This innovative risotto blends one part cauliflower rice with one part traditional risotto rice. It delivers the same luxurious creaminess as the classic version but with fewer carbs and more veggies.
Ingredients
- 20 g unsalted butter
- 1 onion, chopped
- 250 g risotto rice
- big pinch of saffron
- 90 ml dry white wine
- 900 ml warm vegetable stock
- 40 g Parmesan cheese, finely grated + extra to serve
- grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 400 g cauliflower, grated or chopped in a food processor
- 100 g young kale leaves
Preparation
- Melt the butter with a dash of olive oil in a large saucepan over low heat. Add the onion and cook for 10-15 minutes until soft, but not starting to color.
- Turn the heat to medium, add the risotto rice and stir well for a few minutes until each grain is coated. Add the saffron and stir through the rice. Pour the white wine into the pan and let it simmer for a few minutes, stirring regularly.
- Stir the warm vegetable stock little by little into the rice and wait until the stock is completely absorbed before adding the next splash. Continue adding stock for 15-20 minutes until the rice is cooked and creamy.
- Stir the grated cheese, lemon zest and juice, the grated cauliflower and the young kale leaves into the rice and heat through for a further 3 minutes.
- Put the risotto in a bowl and sprinkle some extra cheese over it.
Discover more cauliflower recipes in the October issue of Santé, now in shops.
Recipe: Kathy Kordalis – 'Cauliflower Boost -60 recipes with the never-forgotten vegetable', Photography: Mowie Kay
