Saturday 23 June 2012

golden risotto

this creation happened purely by accident and it tastes AMAZING. also unspeakably good when consumed alongside golden chicken. i have only two words of advice: try it.


things you will need:

a quarter of a kent pumpkin
3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1 brown onion, finely chopped
3/4 of a cup of arborio rice
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 litre of chicken stock (or make your own here)
olive oil
cumin
golden glaze (follow link for instructions)

what you will need to do:

remove the skin from the pumpkin and chop into large chunks. transfer to a large bowl and coat with a dash of olive oil, season with salt, pepper and cumin and brush over some golden glaze. mix the pumpkin around to ensure all pieces are evenly covered with the seasonings and oil. lay the pumpkin pieces out on a large, foil-covered oven tray and roast in a 180C fan-forced oven for 20-25 minutes or until you can easily run a knife through each piece.

meanwhile, get the risotto going by frying the onion and garlic in a good splash of olive oil  over a medium heat for a good 5 minutes (keep stirring and don't let the onion or garlic burn!). add the rice and keep stirring for another 2 or 3 minutes. start adding the stock in increments of about a 1/3 of a cup at a time, or enough to just submerge all the rice. let the rice absorb all the liquid before adding more and keep stirring to avoid the rice getting dry and sticking to the bottom of the pan.
once the rice is cooked (this should take about 30-40 minutes, sample to ensure it's cooked all the way through and not grainy), remove from the heat and gently fold through the pumpkin. don't worry if some of the pumping goes mushy, it only adds to the deliciousness of the dish!

serve immediately. if you've made golden glaze chicken to go with it, spoon a few helpings of the chicken's pan juices over the risotto. the hot, sweet, chickeny liquids act as a kind of gravy and the end result is a juicy, luscious risotto (and chicken!).

note 1: if you made the chicken and have leftover risotto, pour any remaining pan juices from the chicken into a small ramekin and save for tomorrow! we had our leftover risotto and poured over some reheated pan juice gravy and it was divine.

note 2: unlike every other risotto i've ever made and probably consumed, this one does not need cheese.  at all! the flavours of this risotto are such that cheese would be a downright vile addition and completely clash with the sweet and gently spiced pumpkin flavour.


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