This Pumpkin and Sage Risotto recipe combines the delicious autumn flavours of pumpkin and sage, while the cashew butter provides a rich and creamy mouthfeel. Easy, healthy, yummy!
Risotto is one of those dishes we don’t often cook, but when we do, boy do we love it! There are so many possibilities when it comes to making a delicious risotto, from a traditional tomato risotto (lovely in summer), to a spinach risotto or this wonderful autumny Pumpkin and Sage Risotto. It’s something you will probably want to save for the weekends as it’s not the fastest recipe to make, but you will be rewarded if you take your time for it.
Looking for more autumn recipes? We’ve got you covered:
The Ingredients
- Pumpkin puree – You can use storebought canned pumpkin puree, or you can easily make your own. To make your own pumpkin puree, cut a smallsized pumpkin in half and scrape out the seeds using a spoon. There’s no need to be very thorough with this, it’s perfectly fine if there are still some seeds left. Place the pumpkin skin-side up on a baking sheet and roast them in the oven on 180 degrees Celsius or 350 Fahrenheit for about 45 minutes until they are soft and tender. Let them cool off for a bit before peeling off the skin. Now all there’s left to do is mash the pumpkin with a fork or pulse in a foodprocessor until smooth. That’s your homemade pumpkin puree right there.
- Celery, onion and garlic – Used to make a soffrito, which is a combination of finely chopped and sautéed vegetables that form the base of a sauce or recipe.
- Sage- Sage and pumpkin are a match made in heaven, so it’s only natural that they are the stars of the show here.
- Cashew butter and nutritional yeast – Risotto in general isn’t the most healthy dish, as it’s usually loaded with oil, butter and cheese. This Pumpkin and Sage Rissoto is delicious and comforting, while also being a relatively healthy meal. How? Well, instead of using (plantbased) butter and cheese – which are both high in saturated fats – we are instead opting for cashew butter and nutritional yeast.
- Lemon – In general, we do not like to use alcohol when cooking. Usually you would use white wine when making risotto, but we used lemon juice for this recipe instead.
Cooking tips
- Sautéing the vegetables – When making the soffrito (sautéed vegetables), you do not want those vegetables to brown. This means you have to stir regularly and not be tempted to turn up the heat in order to cook the vegetables faster. Slow and steady is the name of the game here.
- Cooking risotto rice – Cooking risotto can seem daunting to some. However, if you follow the steps in this recipe you really can’t go wrong. The secret to cooking risotto is to add one or two ladles of broth at a time, and not adding the next ladles until evaporated.
Substitutions and Variations
- Vegetables – We like to use celery and onion, but carrots are another great option to use. So for even more vegetables, feel free to add a finely chopped carrot to the sautéed veggies.
- Parmesan – To make this recipe a bit more fancy and closer to the traditional/original risotto, try adding some plantbased parmesan.
- Nuts – Optional, but delicious. As mentioned in the recipe, you can add some toasted pinenuts on top but hazelnuts would also work very well with this recipe.
- White wine – If you don’t mind using alcohol, you can swap out the lemon juice for a dash of white wine.
FAQ
Pumpkin and Sage Risotto (vegan)
- Total Time: 55 min
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This Pumpkin and Sage Risotto recipe combines the delicious autumn flavours of pumpkin and sage, while the cashew butter provides a rich and creamy mouthfeel. Easy, healthy, yummy!
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 cups (0.5 l) vegan chicken stock
- 2 sticks celery
- 1 yellow onion
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 8 – 10 sage leaves
- 3/4 cup (150 grams) risotto rice
- 1 lemon
- 1 1/3 cup (300 grams) pumpkin puree
- 1/8 cup (30 grams) cashew butter
- 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
- Pinch of black pepper
- Pine nuts (optional)
Instructions
- Place a saucepan over medium heat and add the stock.
- Finely chop the celery, onion and garlic.
- Place a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat and add 1 tbsp of olive oil. Once hot, add the sage leaves and allow to bake for 2-3 minutes or until crispy, flipping them halfway through.
- Remove the sage leaves from the pot and place on kitchen paper to soak up any excess oil.
- Reduce heat to low, to the same pan add the finely chopped vegetables.
- Sauté for 15 minutes until the vegetables are soft, stirring regularly and making sure not to brown them.
- Add the rice, turn up the heat to medium-high. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until the rice starts to become translucent, stirring continuously.
- Add lemon juice to deglaze.
- Reduce heat to medium-low. Add 2 ladles of the warm stock to the rice.
- Allow to cook until all the liquid has evaporated before adding 2 more ladles, stirring regularly. Repeat this process until the rice is cooked but still has a slight bite to it. This should take about 15 to 18 minutes.
- Add pumpkin puree, cashew butter, nutritional yeast and black pepper. Mix well and allow to cook for another 3 minutes.
- Meanwhile, tear up the sage leaves in smaller pieces.
- Plate the risotto and sprinkle over the sage and (optional) pine nuts.
Notes
Nutritional facts are estimates. If you want to be sure about the nutritional facts, be sure to check your product labels.
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 45 min
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Cook
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 576,5kcal
- Sugar: 18,8g
- Sodium: 1,33g
- Fat: 15,5g
- Saturated Fat: 3,1g
- Carbohydrates: 89,2g
- Fiber: 13,2g
- Protein: 19,1g