Mushroom & asparagus brown rice baked risotto [vegan!]

sneak peak: a recipe for an easy, vegan, hassle-free brown rice risotto with mushrooms and asparagus, baked in the oven so you don't have to stir!

Sometimes you just want to make risotto and you don't want to stand there for years of your life stirring constantly, and you also don't have arborio rice. Risotto purists, please don't shout at me, but this version using brown rice is easy and delicious and brings a lovely nutty flavour alongside its wholesomeness.

Feel free to sub out the mushrooms and asparagus for your veggies of choice - the risotto is your oyster (mushroom). Peas are also a good option, as they are in every meal ever wow I love peas mmmm.

Onwards, to the recipe!

Mushroom and Asparagus Brown Rice Risotto
vegan, gluten-free
serves 4 (generously)

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups brown rice (I used long grain)
2 litres veggie stock (I made mine with 4 tsp bouillon and 2 litres water)
1 red onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced/crushed (using a garlic crusher will stop your fingers smelling so garlicky)
1 tbsp liquid smoke
1 punnet (300g) cup mushrooms, sliced
8 asparagus spears, in 1-2cm pieces
3 tbsp vegan butter
2 tbsp soy sauce
splash non-dairy milk
salt & pepper

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees fan (200 for non-fan-assisted).
2. Put a large saucepan on a medium heat and add the onion with a splash of water. Once it's softened and going translucent (five ish minutes), add the garlic and cook for another minute or so.
3. Pour your veggie stock into the pan and add the rice, then transfer the whole lot into a large casserole dish, cover, and put on the middle shelf of the oven. Set your timer for one hour.
4. (You can do this step straight away, or wait until about 10 minutes before the rice is done.) Put a frying pan or wok on a high heat and once the pan is hot, add the liquid smoke and the mushrooms. Toss every so often until the mushrooms are browned and have shrunk down significantly, then add the asparagus. Continue cooking until most of the liquid from the mushrooms is gone.
5. After an hour, the rice should have absorbed most, if not all, of the stock but shouldn't be dried out. If there is still a fair amount of liquid left, leave it in the oven for a bit longer and keep checking. When it's done, remove the casserole dish from the oven and transfer the rice into a large (seriously, extremely big) mixing bowl and add the smokey mushroom asparagus mixture, making sure they're evenly mixed through.
6. Add the vegan butter and soy sauce, then mix well until the butter is all melted. When you mix, the starch from the rice will help to make the whole thing creamier so just keep going!
7. If you need to, add a splosh of non-dairy milk (make sure to use a gluten free one if you need) and stir through again. Season with salt and lots of pepper, and you're done!

If you're making this recipe as food prep, just make sure you don't leave the rice sitting out at room temperature for any great length of time, and reheat it fully before you eat it.

I'd love to know what you think of this recipe - please leave a comment with any feedback or suggestions!

*All photos in this post are mine. If you wish to use any, please ask my permission and credit me.*