Roasted Sweet Potato Risotto

It's been years since I made risotto and in an effort to start using all of the things in my pantry, I noticed a long ago forgotten contained of arborio rice and wanted to put it to use. We've been using a lot of sweet potatoes recently, they just automatically evoke a holiday feel in any dish.

This risotto has a lot of extra steps, but it's well worth it. While the sweet potato is roasting in the oven, you can easily complete other prep work and get the stove top set-up and ready for making the risotto.

Dave happily ate a large portion for dinner, so I would say this recipe was successful. If I skipped anything next time it would be the brown butter, I'm sure it helps make the risotto more decadent, but it's pretty unnoticeable in the final dish.

Recipe slightly adapted from How Sweet Eats.

Ingredients:

-1 medium sweet potato, peeled and chopped

-1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

-1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

-1/4 teaspoon salt

-1/4 teaspoon pepper

-2 tablespoons olive oil

-1 tablespoons unsalted butter

-1 shallot, diced

-2 garlic cloves, minced

-1 1/2 cups arborio rice

-1 1/3 cups dry white wine

-4 cups vegetable stock

-1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

-2 tablespoons brown butter

-4 slices vegan bacon, cooked and crumbled

-1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

Combine the sweet potato with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the salt, pepper, nutmeg, and paprika. Toss to coat the sweet potato in all of the spices. Lay out on a baking sheet in a single layer and roast for 30 minutes. After the sweet potatoes are fork tender remove from the oven and mash.

While the sweet potatoes are roasting -- cook the vegan bacon, start heating the vegetable stock (heat through, but don't bring to a boil), get out a large skillet for the risotto, and chop the rosemary.

Once the sweet potatoes are mashed, start heating the large skillet and add in a tablespoon of butter. Once melted, add the shallots and cook for 2-3 minutes, followed by the garlic which will cook for 30 seconds. Increase heat slightly and add the rice, stirring to coat. Toast the rice for about 5 minutes, stirring continuously.

Next add the white wine and stir continuously until the rice has absorbed the white wine. Repeat with the vegetable stock adding a few ladefuls at a time, stirring until the stock is almost absorbed before adding more. I usually use about 3 cups of stock, so as you near the end of the stock start tasting the risotto to see if the rice is cooked through.

When the rice is done to your liking, reduce the heat to low and stir in the sweet potato puree (I used one cup). And stir until the puree incorporates into the risotto. Next stir in the parmesan cheese and brown butter until both have combined into the risotto. Adjust the seasoning if needed.

Serve with the rosemary sprinkled over the top, crumbled vegan bacon, and a little more parmesan cheese.