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.  

Outright Divine: Porcini Risotto with Truffle Oil

This year the mushroom hunting has been prolific! Every couple days we head into the woods with the Good Doctor, Gaggi and bring home baskets full in no time! The weather conditions are just right...(A full blog post with photos to come!) So what better way to enjoy our bounty than with a rich decadent porcini risotto topped with truffle oil made by our neighbor Alessandro Rossi!

The kitchen will smell outright divine!

Porcini Risotto

Risotto di Porcini

Serves 6

4 Tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove
8 oz of fresh Porcini diced ( or other type of wild mushroom)
5 cups or so fresh vegetable stock/ chicken stock
3/4 cup dry white wine
scant 2 cups risotto rice - Arborio or Carnaroli are best
salt & pepper
Parmesan cheese
chopped Parsley to taste
Truffle Oil (use it if you got it!)

If fresh porcini are not available in your area, try using crimini or chanterelle mushroom in combination with dried porcini that have been soaked in hot water to rehydrate. Do not discard this liquid!  It will have a strong porcini taste and should be added to the stock for the rice.

Heat the oil in a pan, add the onion & garlic and sweat for 10 minutes or so over med-low heat with out browning.  Add your mushroom  and sweat them slowly until tender with a little stock to ensure that nothing burns. Season with salt and pepper.

Now raise the heat, add the rice and saute for a minute or two. Add in the wine and let it cook out.

Meanwhile, bring the stock to a boil in another pot.  Add a ladle-full of the hot stock and cook, stirring constantly, until it has been absorbed into the rice.

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 grated parmesan, a bit of chopped parsley and give the rice one more stir, check seasoning. (It's important to be still a little al'dente because it will continue cooking in the liquids even as you serve.) Rice should be thick & creamy but not runny. Cover the pot and allow the rice to sit for a couple of minutes.

To serve, spoon the rice into each bowl and drizzle with extra special truffle oil or extra virgin olive oil and serve immediately.

Before and After

Artichoke Risotto

Overflowing crates of artichokes fill the market streets - a sure sign that Spring is on its way! So what to do with these edible flowers - try one of my favs - artichoke risotto. We love to serve this for Easter feasts as well! If artichokes seem a bit overwhelming & you wonder where to begin?! Look no further: The Art of the 'Choke (Cleaning Artichokes)

This recipe takes about an hour total time & yes - you've gotta stir the risotto constantly. It's a labor of love & your work won't go unnoticed (hence the clean bowls!) You'll find some recipes with short-cuts however to really get the creamy chewy consistency you must work the starch from the rice & that means good old fashion elbow-grease!


Artichoke Risotto
Risotto di Carciofi

Serves 6

4 Tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove
8 fresh artichoke
5 cups or so fresh vegetable stock
3/4 cup dry white wine
scant 2 cups risotto rice - Arborio or Carnaroli are best
salt & pepper
Parmesan cheese

Start by cleaning your artichokes (click here for help) and soaking them in lemon water.

Heat the oil in a pan, add the onion & garlic and cook for 10 minutes or so over med-low heat with out browning.

Chop up your artichokes and saute them slowly until tender - so you could mush with a fork.

Add a couple of spoonfuls of vegetable stock to help the process along and keep from browning the 'chokes.

Now raise the heat, add the rice and saute for a minute or two. Add in the wine and let it cook out a bit.

Season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, bring the stock to a boil in another pan.

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

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.

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

Buy a couple of extra chokes’ and You can top the dish with a couple of the hearts steamed or boiled separately.

Now MANGIA!! Serve immediately.

Seafood Risotto

If you've got 20 minutes to stand over the stove stirring - try this immediately! Jason's seafood risotto recipe is soooo good! I beg him to make risotto - any kind cheesy, mushroomy (ok i know that's not really a word) & fishy - delicious & hearty! Risotto is perfect for cold fall or winter nights a real stick to your bones dish.

Here it is served as a primo (first course, after antipasti) since it is in the pasta / rice family but I think it is a meal in itself. So when you just don't feel like tagliatelle (the pasta of our region) try this! The key is the rice - it's gotta be ARBORIO!!

Yes, it really does take about 20 minutes of stirring, but it's totally worth it & your guests will know that you love them because you have spent the time to make this.

Just remember this MUST be served at the moment it is ready - risotto is very temperamental: known problems: it can dry out easily or be too crunchy & get stuck in your teeth or it can go the other way & just become mush!

Now for you to try your hand! Here is a basic Seafood Risotto recipe, but you can change it up & use mushrooms or cheese too!

(A recent class on risotto, they asked to learn how to make a 'proper risotto' & they did just that!)

SEAFOOD RISOTTO

Serves 6

4 Tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 garlic clove

1 lb 5 oz. cleaned mixed seafood - calamari & shrimp (Italians chop the seafood to about the same size as the rice so it's not in big chunks, it all blends together)

5 cups fish stock

3/4 cup dry white wine

2 Tablespoons tomato paste

scant 2 cups risotto rice - Arborio or Carnaroli are best

1 Tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

salt & pepper

Heat the oil in a pan, add the onion & garlic and cook over low hear for 10 minutes until lightly browned.

Remove and discard the garlic, add the seafood to the pan and cook for a few minutes more.

Meanwhile, bring the stock to a boil in another pan.

Sprinkle the wine over the seafood & cook until it has evaporated, then season to taste.

Pour in 3 tablespoons water, add the tomato paste and cook for a further 10 minutes.

Add the rice and cook, stirring constantly, until it has absorbed all the liquid.

Add a ladleful of the hot stock and cook, stirring, until it has been absorbed. Continue adding the stock, a ladleful at a time, and stirring until each addition has been absorbed.

This will take 18-20 minutes.

Sprinkle with parsley, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil & serve.

Now MANGIA!!