Pumpkin Risotto.

I'm starting to panic too much about life going back to normal. You know, going back to work, having to entertain Henry all alone now that Ben has gone back to work, sorting out school stuff, starting Henry at day care. I am so lame.

Anyway just because I don't want to think about it I'm going to post the pumpkin, blue cheese and proscuitto risotto recipe that Libby asked for so long ago. I kind of made it up as I went along so the quantities are vague (really) but most rissotto follows the same rules.


Ingredients:

Half a small pumpkin, skin removed and chopped into small pieces
1 onion, diced
2 large garlic cloves
6 strips of proscuitto (baked in oven until crispy)
handful of baby spinach leaves
half a wedge of blue vein cheese
1 cup Aborio rice
around one litre of vegetable or chicken stock
1 cup of white wine


Boil around half a small pumpkin in some vegetable stock. Once it's cooked, drain (save the water) and mash to a smooth consistency. Put aside.

sautee onion and garlic in a large saucepan. Add rice and sautee for approx one minute, add wine and stir until wine starts to reduce, add the saved stock from the pumpkin and stir until the rice is of a thick consistency. Continue to add vegetable or chicken stock a little at a time, stirring until the rice has almost aborbed the stock each time. The trick with rissotto is that it must be stirred the whole time as this helps remove the starch from the rice and helps make it creamy and smooth. This could take twenty minutes or more. It's a little labour intensive but worth it in the end. You may need more stock than I have mentioned here.

Once you feel the rice is cooked and no more stock is needed add the pumpkin and stir through. Break the crispy proscuitto into small pieces and stir through. Crumble the cheese and stir through also. Just before serving stir through the spinach leaves which are left whole.

Enjoy with good friends and several glasses of wine!