There’s nothing quite like a comforting bowl of risotto. There are endless seasonal flavors and thanks to a myriad of whole grains, many bases you can use. A creamy, vegan risotto is within reach thanks to help from a bit of farro and an easy walnut cream sauce.
Traditionally, risottos are made with arborio rice. This variety of rice has a high level of starch which translates into a creamy risotto everyone knows and loves. However, it’s rare I have arborio rice on hand. This has led to a lot of exploration into whole grain risottos.
Whole grains, such as spelt, farro, and einkorn work well after they’ve been cracked slightly. By cracking the grains, a small bit of flour forms which simulates the creaminess of the arborio rice.
Alternatively, pearled grains like barley and farro work without the cracking. These are whole grains that have had some of the outer layer removed which means they aren’t true whole grains, but are still delicious!
Beyond just the arborio rice, risotto’s creaminess often comes from a bit of added cheese. However, it doesn’t always have to be this way. For this farro risotto, I’ve swapped cheese for an easy to make walnut cream sauce.
This cream sauce is a lot like the ever-popular cashew version. I love using walnuts, though, for their unique flavor. It’s the perfect fall treat and butternut squash companion. Best of all, walnuts softer texture purees into a lovely smooth cream sauce.
Finally, if you’re not in the mood to tackle peeling butternut squash, there are alternatives. Swap butternut squash for sweet potatoes, carrots, or another variety of squash that doesn’t peeled, like delicata. All of these work well with a good farro risotto.
Delicious flavor profile. Will definitely make this again.
Question... is the recipe supposed to read 2 cups broth OR 2 cups water? Not both?
Just updated- it's 3 to 4 cups total of broth and/or water.
This sounds like a perfect fall recipe and I can't wait to try it!
Oh YUM! This looks delicious! Faro is my favorite grain and this is a clever way to use it. Can't wait to try your recipe.
Where does the 2 cups of water go? I did not see where it was called for in the instructions.
Updated- it's used with the stock.
exellent!!!!!! very tasty and healthy! It tastes exactly as the one I used to cook when I used cheese and cream. And very easy! I love it!!
Can you suggest a substitute for the wine?
Just leave it out!
Wow, what an interesting dish! Hearty and rich but light and healthy. Thanks for introducing us to farro. And nut "cream". For anyone else wondering, half water, half white wine vinegar works great in place of the wine. This one's a keeper!
Could you make cashew cream instead of walnut? Would the amount of cashews be the same?
You could and I believe they would be about the same!
In the middle of making this now, but am confused about the water in the walnut cream. It says drain the walnuts, then “add the water, garlic...” to the blender for the cream. I added 3/4 cup fresh water but from looking at the video, it’s way too runny. I’ll make it again without, but thought I’d mention it in case it was a typo! ☺️
Ah- yeah, it's supposed to be 3/4 cup water. I'm a bit surprised it would be runny as I always use a 1:1 for nut creams and it comes out the perfect consistency!
Thank you for this recipe ! I adapted it by using einkorn instead of farro (hard to fond in some places !) : it was really really tasty.
DE - LICIOUS!!! I added 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
to the walnut cream ,, Will add this one to my Favorites file : )
Made this with Arborio rice instead of farro, sweet dumpling squash instead of butternut because of what we had on hand. Delicious! Only used about half of the walnut cream sauce... any suggestions for the rest?