Pumpkin Risotto

Maggy and I tried this recipe last night and while she didn't find it to great, I thought it was fantastic enough to put up on our blog. This was the second of two nights cooking with a Hokkaido squash, the first dish being pasta with pumpkin sauce and the other being pumpkin risotto.

We found both of the recipes on one of our favorite recipe sites called fxcousine.com, which we have linked on the left.

Ingredients:

2 cups risotto rice (arborio or some other type of short grain)
1/2 of a Hokkaido Squash, peeled and chopped
1 medium onion, chopped finely
1/4 of a small glass of a sweet white wine
4 tbs butter
1/2 cup parmesan (the real deal, not the pre-grated stuff if you can help it)
3 or 4 amaretti cookies (the dry and crumbly kind)
4 or 5 cups of Chicken, Vegetable, or Beef Broth
Salt and Pepper to taste

Firstly peel and chop the pumpkin into about 1 inch pieces, place within a small covered pot and add a small glass of water. Cook on medium heat until the pumpkin is soft enough to mash. Mash the pumpkin and mix with the remaining water until you have something similar to a pumpkin puree. Set aside.

Now start the risotto off by frying the chopped onion in 2 tbs of butter at medium/high heat. Cook until it's softened, but do not allow it to brown. Stir in the rice and mix until it is evenly coated in butter and let it fry for about 30 seconds while continuing to stir. Now add the white wine and mix evenly with the rice and onions.

When the wine has completely evaporated, add one generous laddle of broth and mix briskly, do not put more than one laddleful at a time. Now stand by the pot and continue to move the rice every 20 seconds or so, while adding a laddleful of broth when it starts to get dry. Due to the heat that risotto is cooked at, you need to constantly move the rice around to make sure that the grains remain covered broth and don't dry out on you. Continue to alternate stirring and adding broth for about 10 minutes then add the pumpkin puree. Continue to cook as before.

Now crush about 3 or 4 amaretti cookies in a bowl. These cookies are as stated on fxcousine:

"tiny amaretti [ahmahraytee], bittersweet almond macaroons made from sugar, bitter almonds, egg whites and flour. I wouldn't cook this dish without amaretti and you need to get the right sort - dry amaretti with no extra flavoring."

Add the crushed cookies to the risotto and continue to stir. Continue to cook, tasting every 30 seconds now, until they rice is almost done but still about 1 minute away from having just enough bite but not too much.

Once ready take the pot off the stove and cover. Allow it to sit and cool for about a minute. Now add two tablespoons of butter, cut into small dabs. Quickly mix the butter into the risotto, not allowing it to melt until it is thoroughly mixed in. Now add the parmesan cheese and add salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy!!! I sure did :)