Pumpkin Risotto with Crispy Sage
I made this for my finacé last month and his response was ‘why don’t we eat this all the time?!’
Risotto has a reputation for being a labour intensive meal but hear me out… Cooking dinner can be an escape and mindful practice, just put on your favourite podcast and pour yourself a glass of wine. Your risotto will be ready before you know it!
Serves 4
Ingredients
Roast Pumpkin
1 small butternut pumpkin
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
Hemp + Cashew Parmesan
1/2 cup raw cashews
2 tbsp hemp seeds
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp salt
Risotto
2 tbsp olive oil
1 brown onion
4 garlic cloves
1 1/2 cups aborio rice
1 cup white wine (I like Tread Softly's pinot grigio)
2 1/2 - 3 cups hot vegetable stock
1-2 cups baby spinach
2 tbsp vegan butter
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 tbsp olive oil (extra)
20-30 sage leaves
Method
Set oven to 200°C. Peel pumpkin, remove seeds and cut into 3cm cubes. Toss on a baking tray with 1 tbsp olive oil and 1/2 tsp salt, then roast for 20-30 minutes or until soft.
To make the Hemp + Cashew Parmesan add the cashews, hemp seeds, nutritional yeast and salt to a food processor and blitz into a powder. Be careful not to over mix this as it can turn into a paste.
Dice onion and crush garlic cloves.
Heat 2 tbsp olive oil over medium low heat in a heavy based saucepan or cast iron pan. Sauté the onions for 5 minutes or until soft and translucent. Add garlic and cook for another minute.
Add the rice and sauté for 2 minutes. Turn heat to medium high and deglaze the pan with the wine.
When the wine has evaporated, start adding the stock 1/2 cup at a time, stirring until it has absorbed before adding the next one.
Once the rice is cooked, stir through the hemp + cashew parmesan, spinach and vegan butter. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Toast pine nuts in a dry frypan over medium low heat - DO NOT walk away while doing this, they will go from toasted to burnt in a matter of seconds. Set aside.
In the same frypan, heat the extra tbsp of olive oil over medium low heat. Once warm, add the sage leaves and allow to fry for a few minutes. Drain on paper towel.
Divide the risotto into bowls and top with the roasted pumpkin, toasted pine nuts and crispy sage leaves.
You could also mix this up and swap the baby spinach for asparagus, broccolini or kale. Brown rice also works well in this recipe, you’ll just need to add an extra 2 cups of stock and cook for an extra 15-20 minutes.
