What better dish, when 'Meat Free Monday' also happened to be Halloween, than a pumpkin risotto.
As usual I turn to Rachel Roddy for inspiration and am using an aged cutting from Guardian Cook as a basis for the recipe.
The pumpkins pictured above were bought on a whim as they looked so autumnal. However the yellow ridged one was perfect for this dish, not least because, as Rachel says , the ridges make it super easy to cut into wedges
Next the wedges are tossed in olive oil & roasted until soft.
I thought I was being clever here by roasting with the skin on but actually it was a bit of a finger burning task to remove the silky flesh once they had come out of the oven.
The pumpkin was mashed and kept warm whilst chicken stock was heated and onion diced.
The onion was cooked slowly in melted butter until soft, and then was joined by risotto rice which was tossed around until each grain was coated. The wine was added & sizzled away to be followed by the stock, a ladleful at a time. Rachel suggested that this should take around 18 minutes which was absolutely spot on.
The mashed pumpkin was added to the pan, heat turned off and butter & parmesan stirred in.
The perfect rib sticking dish to be enjoyed before or after 'Trick or Treat'
