Halloween Pumpkin Risotto

Elizabeth

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 01:43:50 GMT

Your pumpkin risotto sounds amazing! I would love to make it for Thanksgiving this year! Only 1 problem...I have never made a risotto in my life & I need to know roughly how much stock will be needed. I"m really good at winging it & rarely follow a recipie to the T, but a ballpark idea would be really nice :)

melpy

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:46:22 GMT

I just made this for some friends. I really liked it. I would love to try it with fresher pumpkin. I think I added too many amaretti (mine were mini so I had to estimate) and it tasted overly almondy. I want to try again with better amounts. Thanks for posting this it is gorgeous to look at each step individually.

Jennie Erin

Sat, 7 Nov 2009 13:08:04 GMT

This was fantastic. I did it by the letter, the amaretti were a yummy addition and it was as rich and tasty as it looked in your photos. My only issue/question is, was I supposed to really cook down the pumpkin before putting it in the risotto? Because there was a bit of stringiness in the pumpkin flesh that didn"t affect the taste much but compromised the texture. Does cooking the pumpkin more get rid of that? In the US there"s canned pumpkin, very cooked-down, that might have worked well. Here in Germany there doesn"t seem to be any canned pumpkin in the supermarket, so....

DenzelWP

Tue, 3 Nov 2009 18:24:15 GMT

Dear Friends, HAPPY HALLOWEEN! A little late..

fx

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 15:06:41 GMT

Si che sono venuto a Cremona per la stessa cosa, che buoni sono questi ravioli. Vedi il mio articolo #137, Heaven is a plate of tortellini, sui tortelli alla Zucca!

Damiano

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 13:43:25 GMT

Splendido articolo, se ti piace la zucca non puoi mancare di venire a Mantova e assaggiare i tortelli di zucca.

fx

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 00:57:52 GMT

Jeremy, I am so glad to hear you had a successful risotto and were able to include all of the ingredients, including the amaretti. They really bring that dish to another level, don"t they? And you seem to have followed the instructions to the letter - now you can cook any risotto, and even start devising your own recipes. As long as you keep the basics in check, it will always work.

Jeremy

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 00:39:47 GMT

Thank you for publishing this terrific pumpkin risotto recipe. I"ve tried some pumpkin risotto recipes in the past but they always came out kind of bland. Yours was the first website I"ve seen that actually explains how to REALLY cook risotto and why each step is needed. Your thorough desriptions and professional photography made it easy for me to follow. I had to triple the recipe to make enough for a party of several adults and children, but it went pretty much as you described. It is certainly a lot of work, and you can"t turn your back on it for very long before you need to feed it more stock. Keeping the stock simmering close at hand was an enormous help. I used a sweet riesling dessert wine, vegetable broth, and I even added the "secret" ingredient, amaretti cookies, and all I can say is WOW! Everyone loved the dish, it was the hit of the party. I"m only sorry that there"s none leftover for me to eat for lunch this week at work.

fx

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 13:22:36 GMT

Stephan, glad you liked the recipe! You should really, definitely find yourself some amaretti or at least some bitter almond cookies and grate some on top, it really brings the dish to an altogether higher level. Heavenly.

Stephan

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 19:38:12 GMT

I am a little late but this is the first review of three dishes I prepared during the week of Halloween. I like risotto and I have to admit that the sweetness of the pumpkin with the creamy taste of the risotto was very tempting. I started to cook pumpkin (variety used for pumpkin pie) in a little bit of water (next time I will try to roast pumpkin in the oven to see if I can get more flavor out of the pumpkin) and then started to follow the recipe. What I really love with your website is the quality obviously of the pictures and the way it is presented step by step. Since I am very visual as far as picking recipes, your website is very helpful for me. Anyway, I skipped the part with the dry amaretti since I was not able to find some. Nevertheless, the dish was for me and my wife spectacular and I will add it definitively to my favorite list of recipes.

Thank you for sharing with us your expertise and your passion for cooking.

Stephan.

fx

Sun, 19 Oct 2008 12:33:56 GMT

Barky, this sounds like a reasonable restaurant shortcut for risotto. I am always wary of restaurants where the off-the-menu risotto arrives within 5 minutes, but I must confess I have seen risotto cooked on order only a handful of times in restaurants.

barky

Sat, 18 Oct 2008 10:01:39 GMT

The secret for cooking risotto in large quantities is to take it almost to al dente, then take it off the heat, spread it on cookie sheets in a thin layer so it will cool quickly. The few minutes of heat remaining in the rice will allow it to cook to al dente. When it has stopped steaming, put in the fridge. �When totally cooled, with a rubber scrapper, put the risotto into a storage container. �This can be done a few days ahead. �To serve, heat a little stock, wine, a mix of the two or even a touch of water in a sauce pan, add the rice,stirring until it is hot, then add in the butter and Parmesan.

fx

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 07:30:42 GMT

Ken, unfortunately I am not as proficient with pumpkin types as I ought to be and never really worked out which types to recommend for a particular dish. When I found one that works great for me, often my readers cannot find the same in their place. But I promise to work on this!

Ken

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 20:44:35 GMT

Wow, Looks Great !
I can already taste it with my eyes . lol
Listen you forgot to mention which Pumpkin you would recommend.

fx

Mon, 6 Oct 2008 15:03:59 GMT

Joe, thanks for visiting and let me know if you try this. Don"t forget to get amaretti (no, really!).

Joe

Mon, 6 Oct 2008 00:25:47 GMT

Looks awesome. I love pumpkin. We are all about the pumpkin at our restaurant right now!!

fx

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 14:49:06 GMT

Elizabeth, this must have been great with ossobuco! I did many pumpkin risotti with my ossibuchi, some with a little tomato pur�e and rosemary, so yes, I think your version is perfectly valid. But you owe it to yourself to try it with amaretti and serve it as a first course, it is just out of this world!

Elizabeth

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 17:25:51 GMT

Hello I made this recipe tonight (served it with Osso Buco)....All cooks make their own adjustments. I had canned pumpkin in the pantry so I used that and had no amaretto cookies (which is actually unusual in this house!) but I added nutmeg. (also a bit more parmesean reggiano) It was yummy. We had a dish similiar in Verona where they used a Sangiovese wine. What do you think? I am going to try that next. Nice recipe and website.

fx

Mon, 8 Sep 2008 06:50:24 GMT

Fleur, thanks for trying this on such an important day and glad it worked! Roasting the pumpkin is a great idea, but you really should try it with amaretti, if you can"t find any locally just make them yourself by grinding apricot pits with sugar and then mixing with a little flour and beaten egg whites. The touch of sweet bitterness really brings it to the next level - you have to believe me. As for the stock, it all depends on your rice and the size of your pan, I think it"s safe to make a liter/quart and then add a little water to the stock pot if it"s too short.

fleur

Sun, 7 Sep 2008 08:25:29 GMT

I made this recipe today for fathers day and it was a hit.. Instead of using the amaretti I added a tablespoon of brown sugar and it worked very nicely. I also roasted the pumpkin and it made it that little bit sweeter. There was one area that was a bit confusing in the recipe and that was how much vegetable stock was needed. I doubled the recipe as it was for 4 people (with salad) and used about 1 litre of stock and the consistency was perfect.
Thanks for such a great recipe - I"ll definitely make it again!

fx

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 07:57:33 GMT

Salut Eric, merci pour ta visite et c"est avec plaisir que je viendrais te rendre visite dans ton restaurant � Bangkok si je visite ce merveilleux pays un jour.

Eric

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 00:22:34 GMT

Comme d"habitude tu te surpasses avec tes photos et si un jour tu passes a Bangkok, viens me voir.....Eric (bangkok)

fx

Wed, 4 Jun 2008 13:35:28 GMT

Liliana, thanks for visiting and don"t forget the amarettis!

Liliana

Mon, 26 May 2008 14:30:23 GMT

I have never made risotto with pumpkin before so I am looking forward to making this recipe. It sounds delicious!

Great picture on TasteSpotting!

fx

Sun, 9 Mar 2008 04:36:06 GMT

Paul thanks for visiting! You are right that cooking risotto for more than 4 people in a professional setting would be very brave. Hard to keep it al dente for long! I think your idea of the sugar and cinammon on the inside of the pumpkin is very good and definitely in the dish"s spirit.

Paul LaFerriere

Sat, 8 Mar 2008 16:40:50 GMT

An excellent recipe.I am always amazed at how many ways risotto can be made. I think I will add this to one of my cuisines for catering for Personal Chef dinners only for not more then 4 people. I found a 4-6 lb pumpkin is more then enough for this recipe. I also added one thing, try it and tell me what you think. I melted two tsp of light brown sugar, pinch of cinnamon, and 1 tablespoon of butter. After melted, let set for 2 minutes, then with a brush, glaze from the top edge of the pumpkin, down to approximately 1/2 inch inside. Let it set for a couple of minutes before finishing adding the rest of the risotto filling into the pumpkin. It added a nice touch.

JamesCooks

Sat, 24 Nov 2007 13:44:23 GMT

Nice. Keep up the good work.

bill

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 15:02:03 GMT

I just made this - I overcooked the rice a little, but it was still spectacular. Thanks for posting this recipe.

fx

Fri, 9 Nov 2007 02:41:49 GMT

Chris I am so glad the recipe worked for you! You are right, I had forgotten to include directions to cook the pumpkin flesh and now added this:

You can cook the pumpkin flesh in several ways. Either peel and cut in large cubes and cook with a small glass of water in a saucepan until soft. Or cut in large chunks with the peel on and roast in the oven in a dish covered with foil. Finally, you might even cook the peeled and cubed pumpkin in the microwave. Whichever way you use, when the pumpkin is soft and breaks down under your finger, it is cooked.

Chris

Fri, 9 Nov 2007 01:03:25 GMT

Dear FX,I tried this tonight and it"s the best risotto I"ve ever tasted! Thanks so much! I departed from the recipe by using a rich homemade turkey stock. I could not really tell what your preferred method is for cooking the pumpkin. I could infer from the pictures but it was unclear. At any rate, thanks again. Love your site.

Ivonne

Sat, 3 Nov 2007 12:35:15 GMT

Bravo! I just stumbled upon your blog today as I was looking up Zaletti on-line. You have a wonderful site.

ariun

Fri, 2 Nov 2007 00:02:57 GMT

*drool* Looks toothsome!! What kind of pumpkin do you recommend for this? By the way, lady monks=nuns.

Lyra

Thu, 1 Nov 2007 21:11:50 GMT

This sounds great. I may have to make this as my first real risotto...