Easy Pumpkin Risotto with Almond Mushrooms & Black Olives Recipe

Easy Pumpkin Risotto with Almond Mushrooms Recipe

 

Pumpkin risotto is one of the famous veggies- based risotto variety. Pumpkin is suits  for making risotto becauce it had a sweet, creamy and buttery taste. You can use any kinds of pumkin or squash to make risotto, but i recomend to use Australian Butternut or Japanese kabocha pumpkin because the dish color would be velvety orange. I like to use pumpkin chuncks and pumpkin puree to make a real pumpkin risotto. For making a pumpkin puree, you can either boilling, steaming or even roasting it with  foil and let it cooled before processing into smooth puree. Pay attention for the pumpkin chunck size because too small chunck will turn into a soggy overcooked pumpkin chunck and too big will lead into overcooked risotto rice. This pumpkin risotto is a great vegan version of risotto, the other meat-based risotto that i’ve posted is Milanese Risotto with Saffron Yoghurt Roasted Ribs, and Arròs Negre. I add some Brazillian Mushroom or Almond Mushrooms and chinese sausage or lap cheung because i can’t find any bacon in the supermarket.

Butternut Pumpkin Risotto with Almond Mushrooms and Kalamata Olives

Risotto is an Italian rice dishes that cooked into a creamy consistency. The broth may be based on  meat, fish, or veggies. Many types of risotto contain butter, wine and onion. It is one of the most common ways of cooking rice in Italy. There are many different risotto recipes with different ingredients, but they are all based on rice of an appropriate variety cooked in a standard procedure. Short grain rice will suits for making risotto because it’s cook faster than the long grain. Soaking the rice  for about 30 minutes prior to cooking will make it cook easier. Sauteeing the rice with oil or butter will make the starch losen up while cooking the risotto and make it it cooked faster even more.

Quick and Easy Pumpkin Risotto

The rice is first cooked briefly in a soffritto of onion and butter or olive oil to coat each grain in a film of fat, called tostatura; white wine is added and has to be absorbed by the grains. When it has evaporated, the heat is raised to medium high and very hot stock is gradually added in small amounts while stirring gently, almost constantly: stirring loosens the starch molecules from the outside of the rice grains into the surrounding liquid, creating a smooth creamy-textured liquid. At that point it is taken off the heat for the mantecatura when diced cold butter is vigorously stirred in to make the texture as creamy and smooth as possible. It may be removed from the heat a few minutes earlier, and left to cook with its residual heat.

Butternut Pumpkin/Squash Risotto

Perfectly cooked risotto is rich and creamy but still al dente, or got a bite-resistance in the middle, but i prefer it throughly cooked. The traditional texture is fairly fluid, or all’onda (“wavy, or flowing in waves”). It is served on flat dishes and it should easily spread out but not have excess watery liquid around the perimeter. It must be eaten at once as it continues to cook in its own heat and can become too dry with the grains too soft.

Butternut Pumpkin or Squash, Labu Butternut

Almond Mushrooms or Brazillian Mushrooms

Pumpkin Risotto Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup short grain rice, soaked 15 minutes, drained
• 100 gr butternut pumpkin chunck
• 100 gr butternut pumpkin puree
• 50 gr bacon* i substitude with chinese sausage (Lap Cheung)
• 10 gr dried almond mushrooms or brazillian mushrooms or any mushrooms that u’ve got
• 1/2 cup black olives, cut into 1 cm thick ring
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 1/2 cup white wine, or you can substitude wuth rice wine
• a pinch of saffron threads
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 bay leave
• 3 cm cinnamon
• 3 cardamon pod
• 1/2  onion, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed, finelly chopped
• 1 cup (250ml) dry white wine or rice wine
• 1/2 cup (40g) finely grated cheese, Parmiggiano-Regianno would be the best
• deep fried shalllots for garnish

Instructions:

• Heat up the stock in a heavy bottom sauce pan until small boil and add the saffron to the stock, stirring to infuse, turn off the heat and set aside.
• Heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat, add the onion and garlic cook until softened and translucent but not browned
• Add the cinnamon, bay leaves and cardamon pod
• Once the onions are translucent, add the pumpkin chunck, choppped mushrooms, and olives until fragrant
• Add the rice and stir with a wooden spoon until the rice toasted and opaque, 3 to 4 minutes.
• Add the wine to the toasting rice, and then add 1 cup of the saffron-infused stock and cook, stirring, until it is absorbed.
• Continue adding the stock one cup at a time, waiting until the liquid is absorbed before adding more. Cook until the rice is tender and creamy and yet still a little al dente or your preference doness, about 15 minutes.
• Stir in the 1 tbsp butter and cheese until well mixed. let it rest for 2 minutes
• Portion risotto into 2 warmed serving plates, serve with deep fried shallots

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