CREAMY VEGAN PUMPKIN RISOTTO WITH TOASTED HAZELNUTS & CRISPY FRIED SAGE LEAVES

Steps:

• Set a large, flat skillet over medium heat. Add hazelnuts and stir frequently until just beginning to get fragrant and light brown, 3-4 minutes. You'll want to remove them from the heat before you think they're fully toasted, as they'll keep toasting for a bit after they're off the heat. Pour the hazelnuts into a small bowl and set aside. Allow the pan cool then wipe clean with a paper towel.
• Set pan back on burner over medium heat. Add olive oil. When hot enough that a small drop of water sizzles in the oil, drop in sage leaves. Fry sage leaves in oil until the edges pale and just slightly start to curl, about 20 seconds. Remove quickly with a fork and set on a paper towel. Sprinkle leaves with a bit of kosher salt or fine-grain sea salt and set aside to cool and crisp up.
• Add onion to the pan along with a pinch of salt and reduce heat to low. Cook, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon at first and then occasionally, until very soft and translucent, about 8 minutes.
• While the onion cooks, set a medium saucepan over low heat on an adjacent burner. Add the vegetable broth and the miso. Bring to a simmer, stirring to distribute the miso throughout the broth.
• Increase heat for onions to medium low and add rice. Cook, stirring frequently, until rice begins to turn golden in a few spots here and there and it smells nutty, 4-5 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring constantly, for one more minute.
• Stir in the wine. Cook, stirring, until the wine evaporates. Stir the broth/miso mixture and then add 1 cup to the rice. Cook, stirring frequently, until the liquid is mostly absorbed (3-4 minutes) and your wooden spoon leaves a starchy trail when you drag a figure-8 through the risotto. Add 1 more cup broth and repeat, stirring until absorbed. Add another cup of broth and cook until absorbed.
• Add pumpkin, nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper, and 1/2 cup more of the broth mixture. Cook, stirring frequently, until creamy and the rice is al dente. Taste risotto to test that the rice is done and see if you'd like to add more salt and pepper. If the risotto is too dry (you want it "loose" - so that it spreads in the bowl or on your plate when serving) then stir in the remaining broth, a little at a time.
• Ladle risotto into bowls or onto a plate and garnish with sage leaves and a few bits of toasted hazelnut.