Recipe: Pumpkin Risotto

If your kids hate eating kaddoo, Chef Parikshit Joshi's Pumpkin Risotto will come to the rescue.

With two types of cheese, it's creamy and yummy and your children will definitely ask for a second helping.

It's best to have risotto right away, but it can be refrigerated and had the next day as well.

Pumpkin Risotto

Serves: 3-4

Ingredients

• 200 gm risotto rice, arborio or carnaroli, washed and drained
• 50 gm ripe pumpkin, peeled, seeds scraped out, chopped into medium-sized pieces, roasted and pureed + small bowl of diced pumpkin
• 20 gm cherry tomatoes
• 2 cups vegetable stock, please see the note below
• White wine to deglaze
• 20 gm onions, chopped
• 8 gm garlic, chopped
• 20 gm butter
• 20 gm Parmesan cheese, grated
• 10 ml cream
• Salt to taste, around 1 tbsp
• Microgreens, to garnish
• 100 ml extra virgin olive oil
• 20 gm feta cheese, grated + extra to garnish

Method

In a saucepan over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil and the butter.
Add the chopped garlic.
Add the chopped onions and saute until soft.
Add the risotto rice and stir.
Once the rice is warm, add the white wine to deglaze.
Cook till the wine is absorbed into the rice.
Add the vegetable stock, ½ cup at a time, and let the rice cook in it.
You may not need to use all the stock, so use it in batches.
Once the rice is 80 per cent cooked, add in the pumpkin puree.
Add the salt.

• Add in the grated parmesan and the feta cheese.
  Add in the diced pumpkin.
  Taste the rice to check if it's cooked.
  If done, stir, and finish off with cream.
  If not done, wait until the rice is fully cooked before adding the cream.
• Take off heat and garnish with the microgreens and cherry tomatoes.
  Sprinkle the remaining feta cheese on top and serve hot.

Editor's Note: Make the vegetable broth by combining 1 vegetable soup cube or 1 vegetable broth/bouillon cube or 1 tsp vegetable broth/bouillon powder with 2 cups boiling water.

Or make vegetable broth from scratch by boiling 4-5 cups water with 1-2 large roughly chopped carrots, 3 stalks roughly chopped celery with leaves, 2 medium onions chopped in chunks, 5-6 whole black peppercorns, 2 tsp salt, 4 tbsp chopped parsley with stems, 2 laung or cloves, 5 pods garlic, 2 tej patta or bay leaves till vegetables are tender and the water is steeped with the flavour of the vegetables and spices.

Strain and use 2 cups for the recipe.

Parikshit Joshi is the Executive Chef at Someplace Else, a fine dining outlet at the Jio World Drive, Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai.

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