Vegan Pumpkin Risotto – Simple, Creamy & Italian-Style
This vegan pumpkin risotto is simple, wonderfully creamy and Italian-inspired. Fresh pumpkin cooks right with the rice – no pumpkin purée or roasting needed.
Useful equipment
- 1 risotto spoon *) Nice to have, for less resistance when stirring
Ingredients
- 30 g vegan butter for sautéing
- 1 large onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 400 g risotto rice *)
- 100 ml dry white wine
- 800 g pumpkin see notes
- 1,4-1,5 liters vegetable broth warm to hot (see note)
- 1 ¼ tsp salt
- black pepper freshly ground, to taste
- nutmeg freshly ground, just a little
- 4 tbsp nutritional yeast *)
- 50 g vegan butter cold and cubed
Optional for Serving
- 1 handful roasted and salted pumpkin seeds (pepitas) *)
- 2 tbsp pumpkin seed oil *)
- cress, parsley, or dill fresh
Instructions
- Prep the vegetables: Finely chop the onion and garlic, keeping them separate. Remove the seeds and stringy pulp from the pumpkin and cut the flesh into large pieces. Coarsely grate it using a food processor. Alternatively, cut the pumpkin into small cubes (see note).
- Sauté the onion and garlic: Melt the 20 g (1 ½ tbsp) vegan butter in a large pot over medium heat. Sauté the onion until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds.
- Toast the risotto rice: Add the risotto rice and cook for 1–2 minutes, stirring, until the grains begin to look slightly translucent.
- Deglaze with wine: Deglaze the risotto rice with white wine and let it simmer for about 1 minute, stirring constantly, until the wine has mostly evaporated.
- Add the pumpkin: Add the grated pumpkin and stir it well into the rice.
- Cook the risotto: Add enough warm vegetable broth to just cover the rice and pumpkin. Simmer over medium-low heat, stirring regularly. Once most of the liquid has been absorbed, add another portion of broth. Continue in this way until the rice is creamy but still has a little bite, about 20 minutes. If necessary, add a little more broth or water.
- Finish with the mantecatura: Remove the pot from the heat. Stir in the salt, pepper, freshly grated nutmeg, and nutritional yeast. Add the cold cubes of vegan butter and stir vigorously until the risotto is wonderfully creamy. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.
- Serve: Serve the pumpkin risotto immediately. If you like, top with roasted and salted pumpkin seeds (pepitas), a drizzle of pumpkin seed oil, and fresh herbs (cress, parsley, or dill).
Notes
- Pumpkin:
- Which one: Red Kuri (Hokkaido) and kabocha squash don’t need to be peeled for this risotto. Their skins soften as they cook and are edible. Butternut squash should be peeled.
- Weight: 800 g (1.8 lb) weighed before removing the seeds, or about 650–670 g (1.4–1.5 lb) cleaned.
- Dice it, instead of grating: If you don’t have a food processor or grater for coarsely grating the pumpkin, cut it into very small cubes instead. First cut the pumpkin into slices about 1/4 to a bit less than 1/2 inch (0.5–1 cm) thick, then dice them as finely as possible. Add the diced pumpkin after the onion and garlic and sauté for 2–3 minutes before adding the risotto rice. Push the pumpkin slightly to the side so the rice has as much contact with the bottom of the pot as possible, then toast the rice for 1–2 minutes.
- Broth: I mix hot water with my homemade vegetable stock powder (approx. 1,5 tablespoon to 1,500 ml / 6.4 cups of water).
- Mantecatura: The vegan butter for the mantecatura should be very cold – you can even freeze it after cutting it into cubes – and should only be stirred in after removing the pot from the heat. This helps the butter, starch, and liquid come together for an especially creamy consistency.
Nutrition
Serving: 1portionCalories: 710kcalCarbohydrates: 107gProtein: 13gFat: 25gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 9gMonounsaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 3gSodium: 2282mgPotassium: 922mgFiber: 8gSugar: 9gVitamin A: 3136IUVitamin C: 25mgCalcium: 66mgIron: 6mg