Pumpkin Risotto

It's October and in the Netherlands this means that pumpkins are in season! So they are often on sale, or not as expensive as, say in July, and they are from the soil and not from a greenhouse meaning that there are even more vitamins present in the pumpkin because they are fresher. Also vegetables that are in season are less harmful to the environment because they are not imported from distant countries. Pumpkins are in season until January-February so in the upcoming months I will post more recipes with pumpkin! But first this delicious risotto based on a recipe of Jamie Oliver, but I simplified some things so it fits my lifestyle. Risotto is absolutely one of my favorite dishes but it always takes a lot of time to make it, especially since I use whole grain risotto, but it's worth it and once a while I just make the time to make risotto.

 Duration: 55 minutes

The ingredients for 1 serving:

• 1 pumpkin (I used a bottle shaped one)
• 3 slices pancetta
• 1 ts chili powder
• 1 tbs pumpkin seeds
• 100 gr brown risotto rice (available at the organic store)
• 1 white onion
• 1 big glass white wine
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary and thyme
• 1 organic chicken stock cube
• 1 garlic clove
• Small piece of butter
• 20 gr parmesan cheese
• 2 tbs olive oil
• Salt & Pepper

What you do:

1. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees of Celsius. Cut the pumpkin in half and remove the seeds. Cut the pumpkin lengthwise into slices half an inch thick. Remove the skin and cut into small cubes. Put these in a baking dish and mix with the chili powder and 1 tbs olive oil until everything is covered. Bake them in the oven for 35 minutes until soft.
2. Meanwhile make the risotto. Heat up 1 liter water in your kettle and finely chop the white onion. Heat up the rest of the olive oil in a large pan, add the onion and the crushed garlic clove and bake for a couple of minutes on medium heat. Pick the rosemary leaves from the stalk, finely chop and add to the onion mixture together with the risotto rice. Bake for another minute, then add the glass of white wine, crumble over the chicken stock cube and keep stirring until the wine is completely absorbed. Season with salt and pepper and poor in one cup of boiling water. For the next 40 minutes keep stirring and when the water is almost absorb add some more but make sure you don't add to much. After about 30 minutes add the leaves of the sprig of thyme to the risotto and keep stirring! 
3. When the pumpkin has been in the oven for 35 minutes and is soft, put the slices of pancetta on top and add the pumpkin seeds to the baking dish. Add some salt and pepper to taste and put back in the oven for 10 minutes until the pancetta is crunchy.
4. Now back to the risotto, when the risotto is nice and soft switch of the heat and stir in the piece of butter and 15 gr grated parmesan cheese and to taste some more pepper and salt. Put the lid on the pan and let it sit for 2 minutes to make sure that the risotto is nice and creamy. Stir in about half of the pumpkin cubes, put on a plate and top off with the pancetta and pumpkin seeds. You're absolutely delicious risotto is now ready to be eaten! Make sure you eat it straight away so you can taste the creamy texture. 

As you might have noticed you have some leftover pumpkin! Let it cool down and keep in your refrigerator until the next day so you can make a delicious pumpkin lunch salad!

Enjoy!