Tofurkey and Veggies over Saffron Risotto

Brit's sister (Anja) and her sis's boyfriend (Drew) came to visit this weekend to see Brit and to go to the Yeasayer concert tomorrow night. Her sister is vegetarian and apparently doesn't have many options back home for eating good meat-free food. Brit really wanted to expose her to some good, tasty, vegetarian cooking this weekend to show her that it's possible to eat well with her diet. Tonight's meal is going to be an adaptation of a fantastic polenta dish that Brit's grandmother had sent us the recipe for and we've made a few times. The polenta is topped with some sauteed chicken sausage, onion, spinach, and some other veggies. We decided to take the topping, switch out the chicken sausage for some tofurkey we found at TJs, and serve the entire thing over my saffron risotto, which I would be making with veggie stock.

Saffron Risotto
(originally printed in a June 2007 SELF magazine)

Serves 5-6 (we doubled the recipe for our guests)

Olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped small
2 cups arborio rice
Salt
2 cups white wine
Large pinch of saffron
56 ounces veggie stock (I normally use chicken stock)
2 tbsp butter, quartered
1/2 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese

Using a medium pot, simmer the stock.

Using a large pot, over medium heat, saute the onions in the olive oil until they are soft and translucent. Add in the rice and a pinch of salt and cook 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the wine and the saffron (appreciating the beautiful color that comes out of the saffron as it is cooked) and stir frequently until most of the wine is absorbed.

Add two ladles of stock to the rice and simmer until most of the liquid is absorbed. Continue to add a ladle of stock to the rice until the liquid is absorbed between each new addition. Once all of the stock has been absorbed stir in the butter until it is fully melted. Turn off the heat and stir in the cheese. Let the rice sit for 2 minutes and serve.

I had actually turned the heat down to low on this dish because I needed to waste some time while Brit helped Anja and Drew find parking. Because of this, I believe the dish turned out creamier and more delicious than I had ever made it. It might have also helped using a veggie stock (I find that TJ's veggie stock is tastier than their chicken variety) as well. Either way: yummmmmm!

The veggie topping that Brit made was tasty, but I wasn't a fan of the tofurkey we had bought. The texture was a little off and the flavor wasn't very exciting (at least for me).