The Best Pumpkin & Sage Risotto (Gluten Free, Vegan)

Prep: 15 minutesCook: 45 minutesTotal: 60 minutes
Yield: serves 2Category: Dinners
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This delicious Pumpkin & Sage Risotto recipe is packed full of lovely comforting flavours that work perfectly together in this dish. The crispy sage compliments this creamy risotto to create the ultimate autumnal weekend dinner.

I love cooking and eating seasonally and always enjoy creating new recipes using squash in autumn. I have created this recipe using pumpkin as I had some leftover from Halloween, however, any other types of squash will work. Substituting the pumpkin for butternut squash in this recipe means you could have this creamy risotto any time of the year as its such an accessible ingredient – just follow my Butternut Squash and Bacon Risotto recipe which you can find here.

I always shied away from making risottos as I had heard horror stories and just assumed they were very complicated to make. I decided it was finally time to give it a go and, although the constant stirring can get a little tedious, the lovely dish you will be left with is well worth it. As it is fairly time consuming this is not something I would make through the week and instead would reserve it for a weekend date night at home.

As this needs stirring constantly, I find it helpful to ensure everything is ready and chopped before starting so I don’t get distracted when I should be cooking. When preparing the pumpkin for this dish it is best to dice the pumpkin into small cubes to ensure that they all cook as you will be adding them to the pan raw.

Whenever I have made this 650ml of liquid is enough, however, if you taste test your risotto and it isn’t quite cooked you can just add in some boiling water if you run out of stock.

If you are not dairy free you can use regular butter, cream and parmesan in place of the nutritional yeast when making this recipe. The cream is optional and you can simply omit this ingredient if you are unable to find it. If you follow a vegan diet you will need to check the kind of wine that you use, there are plenty of vegan options on the market just make sure you use a dry one. Part of the alcohol will evaporate when cooking and you will just be left with a lovely flavour that adds an extra depth to this risotto.

Do not skip the last step where you replace the lid and allow the risotto to sit as this is when it will start to become creamy. This risotto is best when eaten immediately after cooking and I would not recommend making it in advance.

If you like my Pumpkin and Sage Risotto you may also like my Asparagus, Pea & Mint Risotto which you can find here. If you are looking for more savoury recipes that use pumpkin you may like my Thai Pumpkin Curry or my Curried Pumpkin Soup which you can find here.

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Ingredients

metric
imperial
  • 650ml 2 + 3/4 cups boiling water
  • 250g 1 cup diced pumpkin
  • 200g 1 cup arborio rice
  • 150ml 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp dry white wine
  • 100ml 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp dairy free single cream (optional)
  • 4 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 2 tbsp dairy free butter
  • 1 small white onion
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1/2 handful fresh sage
  • 2 vegetable stock cubes
  • 1/2 tsp dried sage
  • pinch sea salt
  • pinch black pepper
  • splash olive oil

Method

  1. Place the stock cubes in a jug along with the boiling water and stir so it dissolves
  2. Add the oil and one tablespoon of the butter to a heavy bottomed skillet and allow to heat up
  3. Peel and finely slice the onion and add to the pan along with the finely diced pumpkin and a pinch of sea salt, sautee over a moderate heat for five minutes until the vegetables begin to soften
  4. Peel and mince the garlic, stir into the pan
  5. Add the rice to the pan and stir for around one minute, ensuring each piece gets fully coated in the melted oil and butter
  6. Increase the heat and pour in the wine, stirring constantly until it has mostly evaporated
  7. Stir in a generous pinch of salt and pepper and the dried sage. Reduce the heat
  8. Ladle one spoonful of stock into the rice, stirring continuously until it has been fully absorbed. Repeat this until around three quarters of the stock has been used
  9. Stir in two tablespoons of the nutritional yeast
  10. Continue ladling in the stock and, just before you add the last one, check the consistency of the risotto. It should be soft with a little bite
  11. Once ready, remove the pan from the heat and add the remaining nutritional yeast, butter and cream if you are using it. Stir briefly before placing the lid on the pan and allowing it to sit for two minutes until serving
  12. In the meantime add a little bit of oil to a frying pan and quickly fry the fresh leaves for a couple of minutes until crispy. Top the risotto with these when serving

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