Yes, we love our Libby’s for pies and quick breads. But canned pumpkin can also star in savory dishes, like this rich, yet vegan risotto from One Green Planet, the online guide to planet-friendly living. The recipe, featured on One Green Planet’s website and in its latest cookbook, “FALL: Plant-Based Recipes to Celebrate Harvest Season” (Hewlett-Packard, $30), calls for arborio rice, vegetable stock, white wine, thyme and fresh or canned pureed pumpkin, which is swirled into the rice towards the end.
Creamy Pumpkin Risotto with Sweet and Spicy Roasted Pepitas
Serves 3 to 4
INGREDIENTS
4 cups vegetable stock
3 tablespoons coconut oil
1 large onion, minced
1 cup arborio rice
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup dry white wine
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup puréed pumpkin (fresh or canned)
1 tablespoon thyme, chopped
Sweet and Spicy Pepitas (recipe below)
DIRECTIONS
Bring the vegetable stock to a boil in a medium-sized pot, then reduce heat to low and simmer, covered.
In a large pot, warm coconut oil over medium heat. Add onions and saute until translucent, then add arborio rice and salt, stirring until well-coated. Add the white wine and stir, simmering until wine is absorbed, then add the stock from the first pot a bit at a time, waiting until it’s absorbed before adding any more and returning the stock to simmer between. Keep stirring the rice.
When you add your last round of stock, add the minced garlic. When the final stock has absorbed, add the pumpkin and thyme and stir while cooking for 5 minutes more. Top with sweet and spicy roasted pepitas and serve immediately.
Sweet and Spicy Roasted Pepitas
INGREDIENTS
½ cup raw pepitas
1 teaspoon oil
¼ teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon maple syrup
Generous pinch of salt
DIRECTIONS
Heat oven to 300 degrees. Toss pepitas to coat evenly with oil, chili, maple syrup and salt, then spread in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown, stirring halfway through.
— From One Green Planet’s “FALL: Plant-Based Recipes to Celebrate Harvest Season”
