One of the nice things about writing this blog are the comments that I receive from other food bloggers which have offered me an introduction to their blogs and to their recipes. In the past few months I have ended up making a number of recipes from the blogs that I have been reading, opening my culinary world in a way that cookbooks and cooking websites don’t always do.

This recipe for risotto with pumpkins and olives was one that really jumped out at me, I would have never thought to put the two together and loved the results. I used kalamata olives for this and don’t recommend them, they are too strong and overpower the delicate sweetness of the pumpkin. I would use the wrinkly black olives that you can find at the olive bar, they are usually brined and then baked making them a little less pungent than kalamatas and better for this risotto.

Risotto with Pumpkin and Olives

adapted from nocemoscata

• 1 cup of Carnaroli or Arborio rice (Italians measure rice by demitasse cups, 1 cup for each person and one for the pot)
• 1 pound fresh Pumpkin, cut into slivers and roasted
• 1/2 cup black olives, pitted and chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4½ cups chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 cup of dry white wine
• 3 tbsp butter
• a few sprigs of flat-leaf parsley
• pinch of nutmeg
• salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Slice the pumpkin into 4 slivers, paint with the olive oil and place on a baking sheet in the center of the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until tender. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before removing the skins.

In the meantime chop onion into fine pieces and bring the broth to a simmer.

Heat a large stovetop casserole pan over medium-high heat and melt 2 tbsp of butter at the bottom of the pan, covering the pan. When the butter is melted add onion and sauté until the onion is translucent. Add rice and coat it in the butter, toasting it a bit. When the rice becomes opaque, after about 1 minute add the wine to the pan, enough to cover the rice, stir frequently.

When the rice has absorbed the wine, add a ladleful of broth to the pan and continue stirring. Repeat and once the rice starts to absorb the broth add the roasted pumpkin. Add one more ladle of broth and add the choppedolives . Continue adding the broth as the rice absorbs it, you want it to almost dry out before adding the broth each time.

When the rice is finished it should be al dente and all of the liquid should be absorbed. Remove from heat and in a tab of butter and the chopped parsley in. Serve immediately.

~ by italicious on December 28, 2010.

Posted in Lazio, parsley, primi, rice, risotto, vegetarian, winter squash
Tags: Lazio, olives, pumpkin, risotto