Pumpkin Leek Risotto

Close up of a plate of risotto with pieces of pumpkin and leek throughout.

Enjoy this richly creamy and perfectly seasoned pumpkin leek risotto whenever you want a simple but fancy dinner! With roasted pumpkin and leeks, this is packed with delicious flavors and is vegan and gluten free.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian-inspired, Vegan

Keyword Leek pumpkin risotto recipe, Pumpkin leek risotto

Prep Time 25

Cook Time 30

Total Time 55

Servings Dinner Servings

Calories 540kcal

Equipment

Cutting board
Knife
Large pot
Baking tray
Silicone baking mats (or parchment paper)
Box grater (or zesting tool)

Ingredients

Roasted Pumpkin

1 small pumpkin squash
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt (to taste, about ¼ teaspoon)
black pepper (to taste, about ⅛ teaspoon)

Roasted Leeks

3 large leeks
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt (to taste, about ¼ teaspoon)
black pepper (to taste, about ⅛ teaspoon)

Remaining Risotto Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
¾ cup celery (about 2 ribs)
2 cloves garlic
1 ½ cups arborio rice
¾ cup dry white wine
4 cups vegetable broth (no salt added)
½ tablespoon miso paste , white type
½ teaspoon dry thyme
¼ teaspoon dry rosemary
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon lemon juice (juice of about ¼ lemon)
½ tablespoon lemon zest (zest of about ¼ lemon)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 °F. Prepare 2 baking trays by covering them with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
Prep the pumpkin: cut in half, remove seeds, peel then cube into bite size pieces. Add to one baking tray with olive oil, salt and black pepper to taste.
1 small pumpkin squash, salt, black pepper, 1 tablespoon olive oil
Prep the leeks: remove the green tops, wash thoroughly, slice in half lengthwise (creating semi-circle shapes) then slice thinly. Add to the second baking tray with olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.
3 large leeks, 1 tablespoon olive oil, salt, black pepper
Bake the pumpkin and leeks for 15 minutes, toss them around then finish roasting until softened and starting to brown. Leeks take about 20 minutes and pumpkin takes about 25 minutes.
While the vegetables roast, prep the remaining ingredients to begin preparing the risotto (finely dice celery, mince garlic, measuring everything else). The wine should be at room temperature and the vegetable broth warmed (heat in a small pot over low heat and keep this on next to the large pot for the risotto; alternatively can heat up the broth in the microwave until warm).
Warm the remaining oil in a large pot over medium heat.
2 tablespoons olive oil
Add in chopped celery and cook for 2 minutes, until it starts to soften and turn a brighter green color. Next, add the minced garlic and cook for another minute.
¾ cup celery, 2 cloves garlic
Add arborio rice and coat with the oil, toasting the rice for one minute.
1 ½ cups arborio rice
Next, add white wine. There will be a large sizzle when the wine hits the hot pot. Stir until most of the wine is absorbed.
¾ cup dry white wine
Add ½ cup of warm vegetable broth along with miso paste. Stir continuously, making sure the miso is dissolved and evenly incorporated. Keep stirring until most of the liquid is soaked up by the rice.
4 cups vegetable broth, ½ tablespoon miso paste
Add another ½ cup of vegetable broth to the pot along with dry thyme, dry rosemary and ground nutmeg. Stir until most of the liquid is absorbed. If you drag your cooking utensil across the bottom of the pot, no liquid should be pooling behind the scraped portion.
½ teaspoon dry thyme, ¼ teaspoon dry rosemary, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Continue adding ½ cup of vegetable broth at a time, stirring until most of the liquid is absorbed before adding another ½ cup of broth. Keep going until all the vegetable broth is added in and almost absorbed.
Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the lemon zest and juice (this can be added with the final ½ cup of broth if you like).
1 tablespoon lemon juice, ½ tablespoon lemon zest
The vegetables should be roasted at this point and can be stirred into the risotto until well mixed.
Serve. Optional to top with vegan Parmesan cheese, pumpkin seeds and/ or extra fresh or dry thyme or rosemary.

Notes

Accuracy of nutrition information cannot be guaranteed (certain ingredients may not have all nutrients listed in the database); amounts may vary (and will vary depending on brands of ingredients used); all nutrition fact values rounded to the nearest whole number.

Nutrition