A creamy risotto is always welcome. You can prepare this fantastic dish with different vegetables or mushrooms and it will taste different every time. My recipe for vegan pumpkin risotto with homemade cashew cream cheese is particularly creamy and tasty. My recipe tells you on how to achieve this perfect Risotto bite that is neither hard nor completely soft – but just so perfect Risotto!
The secrets of a tasty risotto.
Secret 1 is to use the right rice. There are options, but all of them have the perfect risotto rice properties. Use Arborio, Vialone, Carnaroli or Baldo and you will never go wrong.
Secret 2 is to stir. It is a bit of work, but without stiring, the rice cannot release the sticky property of the rice grain. It is them that make a risotto a truly and incomparably smooth dish.
If you like to read more about it, have a look at my recipe for a vegan Saffron Risotto with Sage.
Enjoy your vegan pumpkin risotto with homemade cashew cream cheese!
Vegan Pumpkin Risotto with Homemade Cashew Cream Cheese
Ingredients
For the Cashew cream cheese
- 80 g cashew nuts
- 1 small clove of garlic
- 1 heaped Tbsp nutritional yeast
- 100 ml vegetable broth
- salt and pepper
For the pumpkin risotto
- 1 big onion
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 small butternut pumpkin 500g
- 300 g risotto rice Carnaroli or other
- 150 ml white wine
- 900 ml vegetable broth
- 5 big leaves sage
- 2 small twig fresh thyme
- 2 Tbsp Tamari
Instructions
- Soak the cashew nuts in boiling hot water for 10 minutes.
- Mix the soaked, rinsed and drained cashew nuts together with the small clove of garlic, 100 ml vegetable stock, yeast flakes, salt and pepper in a blender or in a tall container with a hand blender to creamy cashew cheese.
- Mix the vegetable stock in a small pan, add salt, heat and keep warm.
- Peel the onion and chop finely.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan and sauté the diced onions for about 4 minutes.
- In the meantime, cut the pumpkin with the peel into approx. 1.5 cm cubes.
- Put the pumpkin cubes in the pot and sauté for about 4 minutes.
- Add the risotto rice and sauté for 4 minutes.
- Then deglaze with the white wine. Add approx. 400 ml of warm vegetable stock and bring to the boil while stirring constantly. Then reduce the heat and continue stirring until most of the liquid has been absorbed by the rice. Gradually add the rest of the warm vegetable broth and stir constantly so that the starch can gradually dissolve from the rice grain. This makes the risotto nice and creamy.
- In the meantime, cut the sage leaves into fine strips, remove the thyme leaves from the stalks and chop them finely.
- Stir the cashew cheese, tamari, thyme and sage into the creamy risotto. Season with salt and pepper.
- Serve warm and immediately. Enjoy your meal!
