I love all things pumpkin.
I don't, however, buy pumpkins in the raw much. But there was a nice heavy sugar pumpkin at People's, looking bright orange and delicious. So I bought it. While I had planned on soup for this pumpkin, I have to admit I was a bit souped-out from the squash a few days ago. Inspired by a recent episode of KCRW's Good Food that loosely discussed the idea of pumpkin risotto, I decided to forge a path in that direction. As it was starting to rain and I had a good parking spot, I based it on my kitchen's current ingredients.
1 pumpkin
1/2 onion, chopped
4 shallots, chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled, 1 whole, 1 chopped
vegetable stock (about 5 c)
2 c. arborio rice
spinach
chipotle chile flakes (not necessary)
a few gratings of fresh nutmeg
olive oil, butter
cheese, if you like it: Parmesan or goat cheese would both be good.
I halved the pumpkin, scooped out the seeds and the strings (save seeds), and put the pumpkin, with the exposed insides down, into a casserole dish with about 1" water in the bottom. Put that in the oven at about 425F to roast.
Meanwhile, I tossed the seeds with a bit of melted butter and some salt, spread them on a baking sheet and added them to the oven to toast, about 30 min. Stir them occasionally and try not to make the same mistake I did, keep an eye or a keen nose on them so that they don't over-roast.
Let the pumpkin go for a while... about 35-45 min, until the pumpkin is cooked (this is a good recipe for a rainy day). Peel the skin off with your fingers or cut it off with a knife, then cut the pumpkin into roughly 1" cubes. Put half of it on a baking sheet (I used the one that had the seeds on it) and toss with salt and olive oil, return to oven to caramelize the pumpkin a bit, get it nice and roasty. Take it out when it starts to brown slightly.
Mash the other half up for use in the risotto.
Risotto: Put about 2 T olive oil in the bottom of a large pot. Heat the oil, add the onions and shallots. When onions start to soften, add the garlic. You'll later remove the whole garlic clove, it gives good flavor without overpowering.
After about another 3 min- before the garlic browns- add the rice and stir to coat with oil. Add the mashed pumpkin and coat the rice with the pumpkin. Let that cook for a few minutes, it might start to brown a bit on the bottom.
Add the stock, 1 c. at a time, stirring frequently. Don't add the next cup until the previous one is well-absorbed. The stirring is important b/c it releases starches from the rice, making your risotto feel creamy in your mouth.
Repeat until your rice is al dente- like cooked pasta, it shouldn't be mushy or soggy. The very inside will offer the slightest resistance to your biting into it. When it's about done, finish it with about 1T butter (just stir it in) and the cheese if you like it, salt and pepper to taste, and grate in the faintest hint of nutmeg. Finally, add several handfuls of spinach to the pot and cover it. The spinach will steam this way, then you can fold it into the risotto.
Dish it up, adding a few cubes of roasted pumpkin and top with the toasted pumpkin seeds.
