Ingredients
- 500g butternut pumpkin
- 1 medium onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 cup Arborio rice
- 1L Massel chicken-style stock (it’s vegan, and I prefer the cubes, but the powder is good too)
- 2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
- 2 tsp Moroccan seasoning
- Olive oil
Method
Preheat the oven to 190°C
Peel and cut the pumpkin into 1-2cm cubes and place in a baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil and brush to coat. Sprinkle with 1tsp of the Moroccan seasoning. Place in oven and bake for around an hour.
While pumpkin is cooking, prepare your other ingredients. Wash the rice. Make up the stock in a large saucepan and leave to simmer on very low heat. Fill the kettle and boil in case more liquid is required. Finely chop the onion and garlic.
When the pumpkin has been baking for around half an hour, start making the risotto. In a large saucepan, add the onion and around 1 tbsp olive oil. Cook on low heat until transparent. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the dry Arborio rice, a little more oil (1/2 tbsp) and cook for 2 minutes, regularly stirring.
Add a ladle of stock to the rice and stir through. Stir the rice regularly to ensure it doesn’t stick to the saucepan. Once all the liquid is absorbed (no visible liquid bubbling), add another ladle of stock. Repeat until half the stock is used, always stirring regularly. Add the remaining Moroccan seasoning and half the Parmesan and stir through.
Continue adding stock and regularly stirring until the rice is fully cooked – use a fresh teaspoon to take out a couple of grains and let them cool a little before testing. The rice should not have a hard centre when fully cooked. If the stock is all consumed before the rice is fully cooked, refill the stock saucepan with hot water from the kettle. Don’t make up more stock, water is fine. Continue adding a ladle of liquid at a time and stirring, and test every few minutes to check if it’s fully cooked.
The pumpkin should finish baking around the same time the risotto is cooked. Mash around 1/3 of the pumpkin and stir through the risotto. If the pumpkin is done before the risotto is done, it’s good to add the mashed pumpkin before the risotto is finished. Fold through the remaining baked pumpkin and the rest of the Parmesan cheese.
Serves 4. Enjoy!