Pumpkin Risotto

 A rich and creamy seasonal dish perfect for fall and a delicious addition to your Thanksgiving feast is Pumpkin Risotto. Make extra because the next day a risotto pancake (with a few sunny side up eggs) is amazing!! It takes a bit of time, but easy to make and gorgeous on your plate!

Don't believe the hype that you don't have to stir. You really do have to keep the spoon moving to massage the starch out of the rice to achieve a creamy constancy. It's worth twenty minutes of your time. Once you get it down, it's easy to become proficient at making risotto. Have fun, switch it up. The great part of this dish is that you can replace the pumpkin with any vegetable you like - try radicchio with a drizzle of aged balsamic from Modena for example.

Pumpkin Risotto
Risotto di Zucca
Serves 6

4 Tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove
3 big handfuls of diced pumpkin (about 3 cups or 400 gr) butternut squash or sugar baby
5 cups or so fresh vegetable or chicken stock
3/4 cup dry white wine
scant 2 cups risotto rice - Arborio or Carnaroli are best
salt & pepper
Parmesan cheese
sage leaf or tig of thyme (optional)
few tablespoons of cream (optional)

Heat the oil in a pan over low heat, add the onion & garlic and a little salt and pepper and sweat for 10 minutes or so with out browning.

Next, add  the pumpkin with a few spoonfuls of vegetable stock and cook them slowly until tender. Then raise the heat, add the rice and herb sprig and saute for a minute or two. Add in the wine and let it cook out but be sure to continuously stir.

Season with a little salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, bring the stock to a boil in another pot and check that the rice is now on a medium low heat. 

Add a ladle-full of the hot stock to the rice and cook, stirring constantly, until it has been absorbed.

Continue adding the stock, a ladle-full at a time, constantly stirring until each addition has been absorbed. This will take 18-20 minutes.

When the rice is al'dente, turn off the heat, add in a handful or two of graded cheese and give the rice one more stir, check seasoning. Rice should be thick & creamy but not runny. Cover the pot and allow the rice to sit for a couple of minutes. Make sure to remove the thyme sprig or sage leaf.

To serve, spoon the rice into the bowls and sprinkle with Parmesan, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and serve immediately.

If you like to make the rice a little richer, try adding 2 tablespoons cream at the point when the Parmesan is incorporated.  

Butternut Squash Soup

Fall in a bowl - Butternut Squash Soup would make a perfect dish to add to your Thanksgiving dinner or lunch on a rainy day! It can be served day-of or is even better the next! Which makes it great for Thanksgiving since you can cook it off a day or 2 before, one less thing to do on turkey day! This soup has become a tradition in our house - it's so creamy & delicious. If you want to make this simple soup extra fancy add a few steamed mussels just before you serve.

Butternut Squash Soup

2 medium butternut squash - peeled, diced, seeded
2 medium onions, diced
2 carrots, peeled, diced
2 ribs celery diced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
vegetable stock
olive oil
bay leaf
fresh thyme
salt & pepper

In a soup pot heat 2 glugs of olive oil over med low heat, add carrots, celery, onions & garlic - until translucent - about 15-20 minutes.

Then add your squash, bay leaf & a couple sprigs of fresh thyme and salt & pepper. Sautée for another 15-20 min. on med-low heat until the squash starts to fall apart & gets soft.

Cover with vegetable stock & cook another 20 min. until the squash is now totally soft. You may need to adjust the amount - if it looks like it is getting too thick, add a little water.

Blend with a hand blender & then add in about half a cup of heavy cream. (I know the cream sounds heavy, but it really rounds out the vegetables.) Adjust the seasonings to your liking: you can add in cinnamon, nutmeg &/or a clove to make it a bit more spicy & festive!

Toast a piece of bread & float it on top and a drizzle of good extra virgin olive oil.

Pumpkin Stuffed Ravioli with Butter & Sage

Pumpkin Ravioli Filling

1 hard squash (butternut, sweet pumpkin, etc)
olive oil
salt
nutmeg
parmesan cheese
salt & pepper

Cut pumpkin into chunks & drizzle with olive oil.
Sprinkle with salt.
Roast at 350 degrees until pumpkin is soft. Allow to cool.
Scoop pumpkin out of its shell into a bowl.
Add a handful of grated parmesan cheese, nutmeg, salt & pepper. (If you like you can add ground cloves or ginger - any spice you like to give it that fall feel.)
Mix it all up - use to stuff cappelletti, tortellini or ravioli.
Can also be served as a side dish without the pasta.
Once pasta is filled, throw into salted boiling water until they float to the top.
Freezes well: place in a single layer on a sheet pan, then transfer into zip lock bag.

Make your own pasta using our "Down & Dirty Pasta Dough from Scratch Recipe" - Click here! or buy fresh sheets of pasta.

To stuff your ravioli ~

• Roll out a sheet of pasta to about an 1/8 of an inch thickness -the thinner the better.
• Evenly space out small mounds of filling.
• Lay another sheet of pasta over the top.
• With your fingers gently smooth out any air bubbles.
• Cut out ravioli - either squares with a pizza knife or ravioli cutter or a shot glass for circular ravioli. Most importantly making sure the sides are closed.
  

Circles or squares you make the choice! We do both - but I've gotta say there is something about the circles I love.

Ravioli with Butter & Sage

• In a pan slowly melt a couple of tablespoons of butter & gently fry a handful of sage leaves for 1 - 2 minutes.

• Raise the heat, toss in your cooked pasta with a bit of pasta water.

• Season with salt & pepper & serve.

We use 'ugly squash' for our pumpkin ravioli filling & it comes out so creamy with a bright orange color!