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30 Minute Wild Garlic Risotto

Apr 26, 2023 | 1 comment

Make the most of the ultimate spring ingredient with this super luscious, super green wild garlic risotto that takes just 30 minutes. Add a crispy panko breadcrumb topping for a wonderfully fresh meal, great for any day of the week.

Wild garlic risotto topped with crispy breadcrumbs on a small pink plate, with another plate of risotto in the background.

When an ingredient only makes an appearance for about 6 weeks every year, I can’t resist using it as much as possible. And wild garlic (or ramps) has to be my favourite seasonal ingredient. The leaves are light, fresh, gorgeously garlicky and sing of summer being just around the corner.

Risotto is a classic pairing for wild garlic. It really lets the flavour shine – and the bright green colour is just so fun. The trick to preserve the flavour, and colour, of wild garlic is to keep it as fresh as possible. When you cook it too long, the flavour and colour will dull. That’s why we’re making a quick puree with blanched wild garlic first, then adding that in right at the end of the cooking time. This way, we’ll get all the lovely flavour and colour of this seasonal star.

Looking for more wild garlic inspiration? Try my recipes for wild garlic butter, wild garlic pesto, wild garlic mac and cheese and cheesy wild garlic hot cross buns (basically cheesy pull-apart wild garlic bread!)

Ingredients

Everything you need – apart from the wild garlic – you probably already have, or you can easily find at a regular grocery store.

Wild garlic risotto ingredients laid out on a white marble background and labelled.
  • Wild garlic (ramps). This gorgeously garlicky green leaf is such a springtime favourite. You can forage for it in the wild if you’re lucky (just make sure you know exactly what you’re looking for – lily of the valley looks similar and that’s poisonous). It pops up at farmers’ markets in spring, and you can also find it at online retailers. In the UK, it’s available on Ocado, Able & Cole or Riverford. If you can’t find wild garlic, you could use spinach leaves, or cavolo nero (Tuscan kale), and add another clove of regular garlic.
  • Arborio rice. You could also use carnaroli rice. You need these specific types of rice when making risotto – they’re super starchy and the starch is what we need to make the risotto thick and creamy.
  • Stock. Use chicken or vegetable stock, whatever you have to hand.
  • Panko breadcrumbs. These Japanese breadcrumbs are larger and lighter than regular breadcrumbs and give a better, crispy result. I love to toast them with garlic to make a lovely crunchy topping for this risotto, but you can skip this step if you like, or use regular breadcrumbs.

OPTIONAL ADDITIONS: I love to add just a splash of fish sauce at the end of cooking the risotto – I promise it’s not fishy at all – it just provides an extra layer of savoury depth. But it’s very much optional.

How to make it

Make the crispy panko topping by frying garlic and olive oil in a small pan, then add the panko and stir for a couple of minutes until golden (you can use the same pan you use to make the risotto to keep things easy). Then make the wild garlic puree – blanch your wild garlic leaves in boiling water for 2 minutes, then add to a blender with 2 garlic cloves and a little of the cooking water. Blitz into a super smooth puree, which will take a few minutes. Add a little more water if it’s having trouble getting moving.

Cook your onion until it softens, then add garlic and the rice. Pour in your wine and let it bubble up, then you can start adding your stock. Add it a ladleful at a time, stirring until it’s all absorbed before adding more.

PRO TIP: I find risotto cooks quicker if you use a large, high-sided frying pan or skillet, I’m using a 12″ cast iron skillet here.

Once you’ve added all your stock, your rice should be ‘al dente’ – cooked, but still have a little bite to it. At this point, you can pour in your wild garlic puree, a little butter, and the fish sauce if you’re using it, and stir it through the rice. It’ll be SUPER creamy and glorious at this point. Finish by scattering over the grated parmesan, stir it through and then you’re ready to serve.

Risotto is best served right away, to prevent the rice from overcooking and going mushy. There is a quick trick for preparing risotto ahead of time, which I break down in the FAQs below.

How to make risotto in an Instant Pot

Sometimes, you don’t want to stand over a pot and stir – I get it! Luckily, if you have an Instant Pot (or any electric pressure cooker), it’s SUPER easy to make this risotto in it.

  • Follow the recipe up until you start adding the stock. Just use the ‘sauté’ mode on your Instant Pot. No liquid evaporates during cooking in an Instant Pot, so you’ll need to reduce the amount of stock you use to 1 ¾ cups, rather than 3 cups.
  • Instead of adding one ladleful of stock at a time, add all 1 ¾ cups, then seal the lid of your Instant Pot and set it to cook on high pressure for 6 minutes.
  • Use the rapid release – being careful of the steam – and remove the lid. It’ll look liquidy when you do this but don’t freak out. Mix in the wild garlic puree, butter and parmesan and it will thicken into a beautifully creamy risotto. If you still think it’s too liquidy, you can cook it, stirring, for a couple of minutes on sauté mode to let some liquid evaporate.

Got a question?

How can I make risotto in advance?

When I was at Le Cordon Bleu, one of the best tips I picked up was how to pre-make risotto (which is actually the way they do it at restaurants). The tricky thing with risotto is that the longer the cooked rice sits in the liquid, the softer it becomes and it won’t be as ‘al dente’ as it should be. So all you have to do is cook it halfway – add half the stock, and then spread it out onto a shallow tray (so that it can cool quickly – this way the rice won’t overcook). Then you can pop it into the fridge, covered with clingfilm, until you’re ready to serve. When you’re ready, just add it back into the pot and continue to add the rest of the stock, and continue with the recipe.

What can I do with leftover risotto?

This is the PERFECT opportunity to make crispy risotto balls (arancini). These Sicilian fried rice balls are so delicious – I love stuffing gooey mozzarella into the middle.

What’s the ratio of risotto rice to stock?

3:1 – so 3 cups of stock for every 1 cup of rice. Follow this ratio to scale this recipe up or down.

What else can I make with wild garlic?

Try making wild garlic butter, wild garlic pesto, cheesy wild garlic hot cross buns or this luxurious wild garlic macaroni cheese.

Like this recipe? Here are more you might enjoy

If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear from you! You can leave me a comment below.

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Wild garlic risotto topped with crispy breadcrumbs on a small pink plate, with another plate of risotto in the background.

30 Minute Wild Garlic Risotto


  • Author: Kate Alexandra
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 4 servings 1x
  • Diet: Vegetarian

Description

Make the most of the ultimate spring ingredient with this super luscious, super green wild garlic risotto that takes just 30 minutes. Add a crispy panko breadcrumb topping for a wonderfully fresh meal, great for any day of the week.


Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 2 cups wild garlic leaves
  • 5 garlic cloves (3 crushed, 2 whole)
  • 1/3 cup panko breadcrumbs
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 onion, finely diced
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup arborio rice (or carnaroli)
  • 1/3 cup white wine
  • 3 cups chicken or vegetable stock, hot (put it in a pot next to your risotto pot)
  • 1/2 cup grated parmesan
  • 1/2 teaspoon fish sauce (optional)

Instructions

  1. Make the wild garlic puree. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add the wild garlic and blanch for 2 minutes. Transfer straight into a bowl with ice water (this will help preserve the colour), then add the leaves, 2 garlic cloves and ¼ cup of the blanching water to a blender and blitz into a super smooth puree. This will take a few minutes. PRO TIP: If your blender is struggling, add a little more cooking water to get things moving. 
  2. Make the crispy pangrattato. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to a small pan, along with 1 crushed garlic clove. Add 1/3 cup of panko breadcrumbs, then cook, stirring, for about 4 minutes, until the breadcrumbs are golden and smelling lovely and ‘toasty’. Transfer to a bowl and set aside. 
  3. Cook the onion and garlic. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large, high-sided skillet or a pot. Add the diced onion and 1 teaspoon of salt and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes until it softens. At this point, at the 3 crushed garlic cloves and cook, stirring, for another minute before adding the rice. Stir it through the onion and garlic, then pour in 1/3 cup of white wine and let it bubble for 1 minute so that the alcohol burns off.
  4. Add the stock and stir. Add one ladleful of hot stock to the rice, stir until it’s absorbed into the rice, then add another ladleful and stir again. Continue in this way until you’ve used your stock and the rice is just al dente (cooked, but still with a little bite to it).
  5. Finish the risotto. At this point, add the wild garlic puree, the other tablespoon of butter and the fish sauce (if you’re using it), and stir to combine well. Scatter over 1/2 cup grated parmesan and let it sit on top of the risotto for a minute before stirring it through. Divide the risotto between plates, then top with the pangrattato and dig in.

Notes

MAKE AHEAD: I picked up this game-changing tip at Le Cordon Bleu. Cook the risotto part-way – so add half the stock, then spread it out onto a shallow oven tray and pop into the fridge, lightly covered with clingfilm until you’re ready to serve. This is PERFECT for when you’re entertaining or for dinner parties. All you have to do when you’re ready to serve the risotto is add it back into your pot and finish adding the rest of the stock – it should only take about 5 minutes.

INSTANT POT INSTRUCTIONS: Follow the recipe up until step 4, using the sauté mode on your Instant Pot. You’ll need to reduce the amount of stock to 1 3/4 cups (liquid doesn’t evaporate in a pressure cooker). Pour all the stock in, then secure the lid and cook at high pressure for 6 minutes. Use the rapid release (being careful of the steam!), then stir through the wild garlic puree, butter and parmesan. It will look quite liquidy when you remove the lid but don’t worry – as you stir through the inclusions it’ll thicken up beautifully. 

INGREDIENT NOTES: If you can’t find wild garlic, use spinach leaves or cavolo nero (Tuscan kale) and an extra clove of garlic. Skip the crispy pangrattato if you like – though it provides a beautiful crunchy contrast to the creamy risotto. I sometimes love to add in an anchovy when cooking the pangrattato – let it melt into the garlic and oil before adding the panko for an extra special umami touch. Skip the fish sauce if you like – I love the deep savoury element it provides but I know it’s not everyone’s favourite (I promise it doesn’t taste fishy).

  • Prep Time: 5
  • Cook Time: 25
  • Category: pasta
  • Method: stove top
  • Cuisine: italian

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 bowl
  • Calories: 380
  • Sugar: 6.8g
  • Sodium: 2527mg
  • Fat: 12.1g
  • Saturated Fat: 7.3g
  • Unsaturated Fat: 4g
  • Trans Fat: 0g
  • Carbohydrates: 47.9g
  • Fiber: 2g
  • Protein: 12.7g
  • Cholesterol: 29.7mg

Keywords: ramps risotto, wild garlic recipes, green risotto

Welcome!

I’m Kate, the creator behind Dished. I love creating flavour packed, simple (ish) recipes for you, designed for every day and special occasions.

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1 Comment

  1. Bella

    Obsessed with the colour of this! So quick and easy too

    Reply

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