Roasted Acorn Squash Risotto
1 acorn squash, seeded and halved
3 cups vegetable broth + 1/2 cup water, divided
8 vegan sausage links
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 sweet onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1/2 cup dry sherry, optional
pepper, to taste
pecans, chopped, for garnish
fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Oil a baking sheet well. Roast the acorn squash by placing the 2 halves cut side down on prepared baking sheet. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until fork tender.
2. Remove from the oven, and let cool for a few minutes. Scoop out the roasted squash from the skins and set aside. Warm the broth and water. Spray a nonstick skillet with olive oil and heat over medium heat. Gently fry the vegan sausages until they are golden brown. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. In a heavy saucepan, heat the olive oil on medium heat, and sauté the onion and garlic for 3 minutes. Add the curry, spices, and arborio rice and stir well, until the rice is coated. Stir and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the sherry, and 1 cup broth, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered, stirring frequently for 7-8 minutes.
4. When most of the liquid is absorbed, add the remaining broth 1 cup at a time, stirring and simmering until each cup of liquid is absorbed before adding the next one. (The whole process should take about 20-25 minutes.) When the final cup of liquid is mostly absorbed, add in the roasted squash and mix well.
5. Break up the sausages into bite-size pieces, and add them in. Continue stirring with a wooden spoon until the rice is creamy, yet still retains some bite. Add freshly ground pepper, cover and set aside for a few moments before serving. Risotto likes to rest a bit before you indulge! Warm up 4 serving bowls, spoon this delicious risotto into the bowls, and garnish with some chopped pecans and fresh parsley.
SO HOW'D IT GO?
Very yummy. I cut the acorn squash into smaller wedges and baked them for about 10 to 15 minutes while I started cooking the rice. It really saved time. Instead of vegan sausage and used about 1 T of vegan bacon bits. Turned out great! :D
;)b Good stuff!!! Needs the sausage though (i used a store bought rosemary sausage)..adds a ton of flavor. And I never would have thought the pecans would go with this dish..but now I would never think to eat it without...
It needed salt. It was a lot better when I added salt. This wasn't bad, not one I think I will make again and again though. My two year old son didn't like it. It is very filling though, VERY filling. One small plate of this and I was done, and then I didn't get hungry again for a long time.
I used home made vegan sausage, which was actually very good, but also not salty enough. Maybe store bought vegan sausage is more salty? I tend to eat too much salt anyway. But this was worth a try once, it was good, but just not great.
THIS was amazing! It was my first time making risotto and it was so easy. I absolutely love this recipe and will make it again and again.
pretty tasty! we used regular rice so it took a little more liquid. we also added thyme, basil, and some lemon juice to zest it up a bit! still feels like it's missing just a little something, probably the wine (we didn't have any) all in all a keeper!
Wow! This turned out fantastic. The flavors and textures were great. I made a few adjustments by adding red pepper, baby eggplant, seasoned tempeh instead of sausage, cilantro instead of parsley, and orzo instead of the risotto (although next time I will try risotto). I only needed 2 cups of veg stock to cook it all the way through. This is definitely worth trying, I was so pleased with the outcome. Thanks
This was so ridiculously delicious. Here's what I did:
1. I had a small butternut squash instead of acorn, so I roasted that instead. It got REALLY soft, so instead of chunks, I ended up with almost a butternut squash "puree" to mix in with the risotto at the end. It was delicious and just a little sweet.
2. I used a package of gimmelean sausage. It was great with it.
3. I was out of garlic so I used powder, and that was fine. I was out of olive oil so I used some margarine
4. I didn't have sherry, so I subbed 1/4 cup OJ and 1/4 cup white wine vinegar. (The vinegar was a mistake, as I think it kept the rice from getting nice and done. I think OJ and white wine would have been excellent.
5. This is a big thing: I don' t think that 3 cups of broth is enough. According to my jar of arborio rice, their recipe uses a liquid-to-rice ratio of 3:1 in its recipe. I used 4 cups (which is the size of a box of stock) along with the .5 cup of water which keeps the 3:1 ratio.
Two MUSTS when making risotto: First (as others said)--stir, stir, stir. Second--I learned in Italian cookbooks that the broth really does need to be the same temperature as the cooking risotto for the best results. I keep it in a saucepan, bring it to a boil, and then keep it on medium-low while stirring it into the risotto.
this was deelishh and i used only one tofurkey dog. i also used half carrot-ginger soup instead of sherry along with 2 cups of broth. and i added cinnamon instead of nutmeg.
AND i added some vegan parmesan topping. YUMZIEZ
i really did not enjoy this. i had to add a lot of salt and found tarragon was a nice addition. the squash made it just too dry for my taste.
I also made this without the sausage. I thought it was kind of bland, like it was missing something (the sausage). I bet the faux sausage would have made it much better. I might try this again.
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