Pumpkin Risotto

Let’s Taste some Autumn!

Varieties of Pumpkin grow all over Europe and they all have their own taste. One is more sweeter than the other. Make sure you kind of know how your pumpkin tastes and what recipe it matches.

*Like i know that Butternut pumpkin tastes perfect in Pies as it has the taste like the word says “butter and nut”). A butternut has the longest storage potential of all squash varieties. The longer you store it, the sweeter and nuttier the flavor becomes. The flesh is orange, smooth-textured, and has a unique sweet flavor with easy to peel. So it’s perfect for pies. Just wanted to tell you this along the side.

For this risotto i used a small hokkaido pumpkin which has sweet flesh and is kind of dry and not watery. Actually i used it for my Halloween photoshoot last week. I thought, let’s make a risotto out of it ;-)

This recipe has a great autumn taste. well now you wonder..........how autumn tastes? LOL.

I would say “earthy”.

INGREDIENTS 

1,5 liter of Vegetable stock

1 onion (fine chopped)

1 celery stalk (fine chopped) 

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

300 gr Arborio rice

100 ml white wine (i use south african wine)

300 gr pumpkin (in cubes of about 1/2 cm)

1 sprig of Rosemary (without twig)

30 gr unsalted butter

50 gr parmesan (freshly grated)

Tip for Decoration : some Pumpkinseed oil with fresh rosemary.

RECIPE

1. Add 1,5 liter of mineral water in a pot with the vegetable stock and let come to boil. Turn off the heat and set aside ready with a ladle in it.

2. Chop your onion, celery and rosemary and put in a stew pot (Le creuset) together with 4 tablespoons of Olive oil and chili powder. Let it sweat on middle heat and then add the Arborio rice. Make sure all the rice is covered with the oil while stirring.

3. Then add the wine, while stirring all the time.....and let it evaporate. Then add the pumpkin cubes together with a ladle of stock and make sure you keep stirring all the time. Let it evaporate too and add another ladle of stock. Keep doing this till the rice is al dente....pretty much till all the stock is used. The pumpkin will be al dente too, no worries. Make sure you use middle heat and it would take approx 30 minutes (when you start heating). when you add the chopping and preparation time, this diner will take you about 45 minutes.

4. Turn the heat off when all the stock has been evaporated, you should have a smooth rice now. For finishing, add the butter and stir gently together with the freshly grated parmesan. You should have an even more smoother rice now hehe.

5. it’s recommended to eat the risotto immediately, so it does not dry out. You can decorate it with some Rosemary or what i thought about this morning is that you can also add some Pumpkinseed oil (Kürbiskernöl). It’s not really interesting to preserve this risotto in the fridge for the next day or so, as it will dry out and the taste will be different.

I so enjoyed this diner, that i’m sure will make this more often :)

In Pictures