Risotto All Zucca (Pumpkin Risotto)
I recently picked up some great tips for cooking the perfect risotto from celebrity chef Gennaro Contaldo, as well as this quick and easy recipe for pumpkin risotto, the perfect dish for autumn and, just in time for Halloween.
Course: Main, Starter
Cuisine: Italian, Vegetarian
Servings: 6
Author: Gennaro Contaldo
- 300 g pumpkin clean weight cubed
- 300 g Carnaroli rice
- 1.5 litres vegetable stock kept hot
- 60 ml white wine
- 60 g parmesan cheese freshly grated and extra to serve
- 40 g butter
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 1/2 celery stalk finely chopped
- 1/4 red chilli finely chopped
- 1 sprig of rosemary
Heat the oil in a saucepan and sweat the onion, celery, chilli and rosemary until the vegetables soften.
Add the rice, stirring well to ensure that each one is coated in oil and lightly toasted for a couple of minutes.
Add the wine, stirring all the time and allowing the wine to evaporate.
Add the pumpkin cubes and stir.
Immediately add a ladle of stock and stir.
As the liquid is absorbed, add another ladle of stock and stir.
Continue to do this for about 20 minutes until the rice is cooked ‘al dente’. Meaning it is slightly under cooked and still firm to the bite. (If you’d like to know why, watch the video).
Remove from the pan from the heat and stir in the butter and parmesan.
Serve immediately.
Tip from Gennaro: Use the pumpkin skin and other peelings or vegetables to make the stock and simmer for at least two hours. If time is short use an organic stock cube instead. Do watch the video for more cooking tips from Gennaro.