Easy vegan quinoa risotto “Quinotto” with roasted pumpkin, chick peas and saffron. Another autumn healthy dish perfect for a quick weekday dinner!
I can’t get enough of pumpkin this autumn. I’ve made so many dishes with pumpkin lately and I don’t mind making more. Good thing: you never get tired of pumpkin as you can cook it in so many different ways: pumpkin pie and bread, roasted pumpkin, pumpkin soup, pumpkin pancakes and muffins, salads and bowls with pumpkin, pumpkin puree, pumpkin waffles, pumpkin curry, pumpkin frittata, pumpkin chili, pumpkin pasta, pumpkin lasagna, pumpkin risotto… Any other ideas? If you are looking for a quick and healthy dinner, here is something for you: vegan pumpkin quinoa risotto quinotto with chick peas and saffron. It’s super healthy, well-balanced, low-caloric and easy-to-make as well as delicious and flavorful. Saffron adds a fine and unique aroma and color to the dish. I bought it on the Spice Market in Istanbul during my last summer vacation. It was quite pricey but totally worth the money. There is no such a thing as cheap saffron. You can read a very interesting article about saffron on Serious Eats: Spice Hunting: What’s The Deal With Saffron? But now let’s go back to the recipe. Even if you are not a vegan, you will like it. I decided to go low carb and fancy and made it with quinoa. Being Aztec super food, quinoa is a perfect substitute for the rice in a risotto, as it’s nourishing and contains a lot of proteins, amino acids and minerals sharing culinary qualities with rice. If you haven’t tried to cook risotto, that is a good time and good recipe to start with. It would be awesome with rice, too. Try it out with rice, if you don’t want to use quinoa. You will ask yourself why you didn’t make it before! It’s a whole new field for experiments with vegetables, seafood, mushrooms, even fruits cooked with rice, quinoa or buckwheat. Check the recipe for my vegan pumpkin quinoa risotto quinotto with chick peas and saffron below!
How to Make Vegan Pumpkin Quinoa Risotto
Vegan Pumpkin Quinoa Risotto (Quinotto) with Chick Peas and Saffron
Ingredients
- 1/2 medium-sized Hokkaido pumpkin or Red kuri squash
- 200 grams or 1 cup chick peas
- salt
- olive oil
- 2 small red onions
- 1 clove garlic
- 5 threads dark red saffron
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 200 grams or 1 cup quinoa
- 100 ml or 1/2 cup white wine or the same amount of vegetable broth
- 500 ml or 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1-2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds to serve
- Optional for non-vegan:
- 50 grams or 1/2 cup grated parmesan
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 ºC or 350 ºF.
- Remove seeds from pumpkin and dice one half with a sharp knife. Put the pumpkin dice in a baking dish, sprinkle with olive oil, salt and black pepper and bake for 30-35 minutes.
- In another baking dish, put the cooked chick peas and add a bit of olive oil, salt and black pepper and put it to the oven for 30 minutes.
- In a skillet or pan heat two tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat. Warm up the vegetable broth and keep it warm over low heat.
- Chop onion and garlic and put them into a skillet. Cook for 3 minutes or until translucent and add saffron, turmeric and quinoa. Cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add wine and let it evaporate.
- Add the broth and cook until the liquid is mostly absorbed, stirring occasionally, for around 15-20 minutes. Add the pumpkin, chick peas (and parmesan if not vegan).
- Stir everything together for a few minutes and season with salt and black pepper to taste. Sprinkle with pumpkin seeds to serve. Enjoy!
Have you tried quinotto yet? 🙂 Leave a comment below!
Cheers,
Elena
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