The perfect springtime dish to celebrate wild garlic season! This delicious oven-baked broccoli and wild garlic risotto is easy to make, flavourful and on the table in 35 minutes!
Oven baking the risotto means less hands-on time stirring, making it the ideal dish for weeknight dinners when you’re short on time!
The true sign that spring is on its way here in the UK is the small green shoots of wild garlic popping up in my garden! I love the heady scent it gives off, especially when it’s been trampled on by the kids.🤣
This vegetarian wild garlic risotto with broccoli is one of my very favourite spring-time dinners, especially when eaten al fresco on a warm spring evening with a glass of ice-cold dry white wine! It’s my idea of heaven and I hope you enjoy it too!
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✔️ Why should you try it?
- Oven-baked which means no stirring at the hob!
- A celebration of wild garlic season
- Vegetarian
- Hearty and filling
🥘 Ingredients
- Wild Garlic – can be foraged in woodland areas in March and April.
- Broccoli – 1 small head of broccoli, broken into small florets.
- Arborio Rice – the best rice for risotto. You could use long grain rice but you won’t achieve the same texture or creamy consistency.
- Butter
- Onion – 1 small white onion, finely chopped.
- Garlic – 2 cloves, peeled and chopped.
- Thyme – I used dried thyme but you could use fresh thyme if you have it in stock or growing in your garden.
- Wine – a small glass of dry white wine gives the risotto a wonderful richness.
- Vegetable Stock – made with a stockpot or stock cube.
- Vegetarian Hard Cheese – or substitute with Parmesan if you are not serving the risotto to vegetarians.
- Green Pesto – an optional but tasty extra, stirred through the risotto just before serving.
🔪 Instructions
The recipe card with ingredient quantities and detailed instructions can be found at the bottom of the post
One: Heat the butter in a casserole with a tight-fitting lid. Fry the onion, garlic cloves and dried thyme for a couple of minutes until the onion starts to soften.
Two: Add in the broccoli florets and cook for 3 minutes.
Three: Stir in the risotto rice and cook for a minute until the grains turn translucent.
Four: Pour in the white wine and cook for a minute.
Five: Pour in the vegetable stock, give it a stir and put the lid on the pan. Bake in a preheated oven for 20 minutes.
Six: After 20 minutes take the lid off and give it a good stir. If it’s looking a little dry, add some recently boiled water from a kettle.
Seven: Stir in the grated cheese and wild garlic leaves. Replace the lid and cook in the oven for a further 5 minutes.
Eight: Serve with more grated cheese and a swirl of green pesto for extra flavour!
💭 Top tips
- Pick the wild garlic just before you need it to retain its freshness.
- Mash the broccoli up with a fork if you are serving this to kids. The risotto will turn a wonderful green colour.
- Make it extra creamy by stirring through a spoonful of clotted cream at the end of cooking!
🍴 Serving suggestions
The broccoli and wild garlic risotto is hearty and filling, so I often serve it as it is with plenty of grated cheese. If you’re looking for something a bit more substantial, sliced air fryer chicken breast or air fryer honey glazed salmon are both good choices to serve with it.
A side of homemade pesto focaccia is the kids favourite accompaniment.
📖 Variations
- Add bacon to the risotto (at the same time as the onions) for a delicious smoky flavour.
- Up the veggies by adding asparagus or diced courgette. You may need to add a little more liquid to the risotto if you are increasing the number of vegetables.
- Vary the herbs and use rosemary instead of thyme.
- Chopped sun-dried tomatoes stirred into the risotto at the end of cooking would give it a lovely colour and flavour boost.
- If you don’t have white wine to hand, you can also use sherry or vermouth, or just leave it out altogether.
- Goats cheese could be used instead of, or as well as, the Italian hard cheese for extra flavour.
🥡 Storage
Risotto is best eaten fresh but leftovers can be reheated in the microwave until piping hot. Leftover risotto also makes delicious arancini!
You can freeze leftover risotto for up to 3 months in a freezer-safe container.
❓ FAQS
Wild garlic has a lighter flavour than traditional garlic cloves, and the green, pointed leaves and white flowers of this perennial flowering plant are easy to identify, making it a good first foray into foraging. The raw leaves have a strong pungent smell, but taste delicate and sweet when cooked.
Wild garlic prefers to grow in shady and damp conditions like woodlands and forests. The wild garlic season starts in late winter and lasts until the end of spring. As wild garlic grows in abundance it is generally acceptable to pick a small amount.
😋Related recipes
More delicious risotto recipes to try;
- Chicken and Chorizo Risotto
- Butternut Squash and Bacon Risotto
- Oven-Baked Prawn and Pea Risotto
- Asparagus, Pea and Bacon Risotto
- Creamy Mushroom and Leek Risotto
Tried this recipe? Please leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ star rating in the recipe card below!
More easy recipes from the Effortless Foodie kitchen
Recipe
Broccoli and Wild Garlic Risotto
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 Onion finely chopped
- 2 Garlic Cloves peeled and finely chopped
- 1 tsp Dried Thyme
- 25 g Butter
- 1 Head of Broccoli broken into florets
- 200 g Risotto Rice
- 150 ml White Wine
- 600 ml Chicken Stock made with a stock cube or stockpot
- 30 g Wild Garlic Leaves
- 25 g Italian Hard Cheese or Parmesan, grated
- 2 tbsp Green Pesto an optional extra
- Salt and Pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (160 fan/ 350F/ Gas 4).
- Melt the butter in a shallow casserole with a tight fitting lid and fry the onion, garlic and thyme for a few minutes until the onion starts to soften.
- Add in the broccoli florets and cook for 3 minutes, stirring all the time so they don't burn.
- Stir in the risotto rice and coat in the buttery juices.
- When the rice starts to turn translucent, add in the wine and stir for a minute.
- Pour in the stock, give everything a stir and pop the lid on. Oven bake for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes take the lid off and mix with a wooden spoon If it's looking a bit dry, add some recently boiled water from the kettle. Stir through the wild garlic leaves and grated cheese and return to the oven for 5 more minutes.
- Stir through the green pesto (if using) then season and grate over more hard cheese before serving.
Video
Notes
- Pick the wild garlic just before you need it to retain it’s freshness.
- Mash the broccoli up with a fork if you are serving this to kids. The risotto will turn a wonderful green colour.
- Make it extra creamy by stirring through a spoonful of clotted cream at the end of cooking!
- Add bacon to the risotto (at the same time as the onions) for a delicious smoky flavour.
- Up the veggies by adding asparagus or diced courgette. You may need to add a little more liquid to the risotto if you are increasing the number of vegetables.
- Vary the herbs and use rosemary instead of thyme.
- Chopped sun-dried tomatoes stirred into the risotto at the end of cooking would give it a lovely colour and flavour boost.
- If you don’t have white wine to hand, you can also use sherry or vermouth, or just leave it out altogether.
- Goats cheese could be used instead of, or as well as the Italian hard cheese for extra flavour.
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Pam
I love risotto, and have never tried a flavor combination quite like this. Can’t wait to make it!
journa
This recipe looks so flavorful! I love broccoli! I believe it’s perfect for a risotto recipe!
Jess
I love how easily this comes together. Perfect for busy nights running kids around!
Beth
This all looks amazing and so exciting! I can’t wait to share this with my family! Looks so yummy and tasty!