Champagne Risotto

I'm going to stress the importance of using good booze in your cooking. When I was a little fledgling cook I tried my hand at Penne alla Vodka. It was gonna be AWESOME! I made a fatal mistake: I used cheap vodka and when I say cheap vodka I don't mean Absolute. Oh no, I mean, damn near moonshine, pretty sure this company uses discarded Listerine bottles, kinda vodka. What I got was Penne alla Paint Thinner. If you can't afford a nice champagne, feel free to sub a nice prosecco or white wine. It doesn't need to be top shelf by any means but something nice.

Serves 2
25 minutes

1 stick Celery, diced
2 Leeks, white parts chopped
6 Tbsp Vegan butter, split in two parts
1 tsp Olive oil
1 1/2 cup Champagne
3 cups Veggie stock (possibly more)
1 1/3 cup Arborio rice
1/3 cup Nutrition yeast
Pepper

1. In a pot add 1 cup champagne with all of the veggie stock. Bring to and keep at a low simmer.
2. Chop up your veggies. Melt half your butter with the oil in a saucepan, add veggies and cook till soft.
3. Add your rice to your veggie saucepan, stir to coat in butter. Turn up heat a touch and add your remaining 1/2 cup champagne. Stir continuously. Turn heat down to original heat and add in ladles of stock/champagne combo. Let one ladle be absorbed before you add the next. Stirring all the while. Continue for about 20 minutes.
4. At this point your rice should be cooked through, there's only one way to find out. If it is and you have stock left over, forget about it. If it's not heat up some more veggie stock and continue the process.
5. When rice is cooked through and the excess moisture is absorbed remove from heat. Stir in remaining butter, nutritional yeast and pepper.

I served this with a simple green salad tossed in a raspberry vinaigrette and let me tell you it was a mah-velous combination.

Original recipe from Nigella Lawson : Feast