Delicious and Easy Pumpkin Risotto – with pecans and crispy sage

Have you ever tried pumpkin risotto? It is such a great warming Autumnal recipe and a lovely way to use up your pumpkins.

35 million pumpkins are expected to be bought this year and almost half of these will be carved and the insides wasted. Meal kit service Gousto is encouraging carvers to help the pumpkins fulfil their true destiny…dinner, with a series of tasty seasonal recipes.

This perfect pumpkin risotto combines pumpkin with cheese, black pepper and crispy sage leaves for a simple yet satisfying autumnal dinner.

 

You might also like this post on how to preserve carved pumpkins)

Ingredients for  simple Pumpkin Risotto 

 

 

• 35g grated Italian hard cheese (or vegan alternative)
• 1 whole pumpkin
• 1 Chinese rice wine sachet (30ml)
• 35g Italian hard cheese
• 1 brown onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 bag of pecan nuts (25g)
• 11g veg stock mix
• 160g arborio rice
• 10g sage
• 1 soft cheese pot (50g)

 

Method for pumpkin risotto

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C/ 200°C (fan)/ 425°F/ Gas 7. Peel the pumpkin and cut in half using a sharp knife. Scoop out the seeds with a spoon and discard. Slice one half into half-moons and chop the remaining half into small cubes.
2. Add the half-moons to one side of a baking tray with a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt. Add the cubes to a sheet of tin foil with 1 tbsp cold water and scrunch it up to form a sealed parcel. Put the tray in the oven for an initial 20-25 min or until the pumpkin is almost cooked through and beginning to turn golden
3. Whilst the pumpkin is roasting, boil a kettle. Peel and finely chop the brown onion. Heat a large, wide-based pan (preferably non-stick) with a drizzle of olive oil over a medium heat. Once hot, add the chopped onion with a pinch of salt and cook for 3-4 min or until softened.
4. Meanwhile, peel and finely chop (or grate) the garlic. Dissolve the veg stock mix in 600ml boiled water. Once softened, add the arborio rice to the onion with the chopped garlic and Chinese rice wine and cook for 1 min. Add the stock a ladle at a time, stirring continuously, for 25-30 min or until all of the stock is absorbed and the rice is cooked.
5. Whilst the rice is cooking, peel the Italian hard cheese with a peeler until you end up with a pile of cheese shavings. Heat a separate, large, wide-based pan (preferably non-stick) with a generous drizzle of vegetable oil over a medium-high heat. Once hot, add the sage leaves and cook for 1 min or until crispy, then transfer to kitchen paper and set aside.
6. Once the pumpkin has had 20 min, add the pecans to the tray and return to the oven for 5 min further (or until toasted). Once done, remove the roasted pumpkin cubes from the tin foil parcel and mash them up with a fork to form a pumpkin purée.
7. Once the rice is almost cooked, stir the pumpkin purée and soft cheese through the risotto. Add the grated Italian hard cheese with a pinch of salt and pepper and cook for a further 2-3 min or until the cheese has melted and the rice is cooked – this is your pumpkin risotto. Serve topped with the cheese shavings, roasted pumpkin, crispy sage leaves and toasted pecans. Season with a good grind of black pepper.

 

Recipe from Gousto, the UK’s best value recipe box with 75 meals to choose from weekly and prices from £3.14. Visit Gousto.co.uk

 

If you are feeling all the Halloween vibes you may also fancy trying your hand at these spider cookies