Creamy Vegan Pumpkin and Zucchini Baked Risotto
Winter is still among us here in Australia, although it isn’t as cold as it could be. None-the-less, cold winter nights call for warm comforting dinners. This creamy Vegan Pumpkin and Zucchini Baked Risotto is my latest winter favourite.
I’ve never been much of a risotto fan, because it takes so much effort to stir the stock in with the rice. You literally end up standing at the stove for about 25 minutes stirring dinner. Baked risotto, on the other hand, is the best! You literally put the ingredients together in a baking dish, cover it with foil, and bake it for 45 minutes. You’re left free to deal with all the other chaos associated with dealing with kids in the evening, and your dinner just cooks itself. Then out comes a delicious, creamy risotto all ready to enjoy.
Risotto tends to be a dish that’s quite heavy on the cream and cheese. I’ve achieved the same richness in this recipe by stirring through my instant cashew cheese sauce at the end. This gives the rich creamy taste, without any added dairy.
To Make Creamy Vegan Pumpkin and Zucchini Baked Risotto
This recipe also uses my Instant Cashew Cheese sauce to stir through at the end.
Brown the onions and garlic. I normally do this without oil. I have a ceramic non stick frying pan, but I find that it still needs a bit of water to make sure the food doesn’t stick. To brown without oil, first heat a couple of tablespoons of water to a heated pan. When the water is hot, add the onion and garlic. Cook, continually stirring, until browned.
If you prefer, you can use a small amount of oil to brown the onion and garlic at this step.
Grate the pumpkin and zucchini. You could cook these briefly in the onion and garlic. It will give a richer taste. This step isn’t necessary though, as the vegetables will cook as the risotto bakes. I didn’t precook the vegetables when I made this risotto.
Add the vegetables and rice to a baking dish, and pour over the prepared stock. Cover with foil and bake for approximately 40 minutes.
The risotto is cooked when all of the stock has been absorbed.
Serve with a spoonful of Instant Cashew Cheese mixed through.
I hope you enjoy this recipe. If you’re after more winter comfort dishes, try my Mac and Cheese, or Chickpea and Pumpkin Korma.
Creamy Vegan Pumpkin and Zucchini Baked Risotto
Ingredients
- 1 Onion
- 2 cloves Garlic
- 1 medium Zucchini
- 200 g Pumpkin
- 1 ½ cups Arborio Rice
- 4 ½ cups Boiling Water
- 1 TBS Vegan Stock Powder
- 1 serve Instant Cashew Cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
- Finely dice onion and garlic. Grate pumpkin and zucchini.
- Heat a frying pan over medium heat. Add approximately 2 TBS water to fry oil free. Cook onion and garlic over medium heat, stirring constantly, until brown and translucent.
- Add onion, pumpkin, zucchini and rice to medium sized baking dish. Stir to combine.
- In a separate jug, mix stock powder into water.
- Pour stock over rice mixture and stir through.
- Cover baking dish with foil. Bake in the oven for approximately 40 minutes. The risotto is cooked when all of the stock has been absorbed into the rice.
- Serve topped with a large spoonful of Instant Cashew Cheese.
