Roasted Pumpkin Risotto with Creamy Thyme Orange Zest-Goat Cheese
In Tuscany the weather has dipped slightly, and not only has the time gone by in a blink of an eye with the Covid lockdown but in Florence it’s gone from a very hot Summer to 50 degree weather from one day to the next. I hope you’re all doing well in your respective homes, and I’m sending hugs from Florence!
I love my daily visits to the Sant’Ambrogio Farmer’s market, seeing new veggies pop up for the season and get excited to use them all in dishes I haven’t had since last year. Fall is after all the season for cooking and eating. These days we’re cooking more so with more time at home, and I was inspired to start a weekly recipe newsletter to share some of the yummy things I’m cooking, as well as some of my local finds in Florence.
With this sweater weather, there was no doubt my first recipe newsletter would feature the great old pumpkin. Pumpkin is not just an American thing, but we get excited about it here too and want to put it in fresh pasta fillings, gnocchi, soups or creamy risottos. The Italian pumpkin is called zucca gialla, which translates to yellow squash and has a dark green exterior. It can go quite large so the farmer’s market typically sells it in smaller pieces that are more practical for our tiny Italian kitchens. In the US it is found portioned off in the vegetable aisle, and you can easily substitute with Butternut squash. Another special pumpkin we use in Italy is called Zucca Mantovana, from the Mantova area in Emilia Romagna and prized for it’s naturally sweet flavor.
I’m sharing the perfect fall recipe made with roasted pumpkin. Roasting the pumpkin enhances the natural sweetness, and caramelizes it for a really deep flavor which plays so nicely with creamy goat cheese, thyme and orange zest. Some very important tips for making the perfect risotto is to have the stock very hot when cooking so that the temperature doesn’t go down each time you add it, adding the stock gradually as each type of risotto rice has different starch levels plus they cook at different times, and contrary to what’s typically said you do not stir a risotto too much as this can squash the individual rice grains. You stir the risotto just enough every so often to make sure it’s not sticking, and you reserve the vigorous stirring at the end to extract the starches, and cream it with the fats added via the grated cheese, butter and EVOO. This last creaming process is called mantecatura.
Roasted Pumpkin Risotto with Creamy Thyme Orange Zest Goat Cheese
Ingredients:
200 grams (1.5 Cups) Carnaroli (or rice suited for risotto)
1/2 a blonde onion, small dice
1 to 2 L (5 to 6 Cups) Vegetable Stock
400 gms (1lb) of Pumpkin, peeled and medium diced
EVOO, as needed
A splash of white wine 10 gms
(1TB) Butter
15 gms (1/2 Cup) Grated Parmigiano Reggiano (similar aged cheese like Grana can be substituted)
Zest of half an orange
80 gms Creamy Goat Cheese
6 to 8 springs of Fresh Thyme
Method:
Heat an oven to 200 C (375 F). Add the diced pumpkin to an oven pan, drizzle generously with EVOO, sprinkle with salt and roast for 30/40 min until cooked through. Blend with an immersion blender and set to side
Take the creamy goat cheese, orange zest and mix in a small bowl. Ad the thyme which has been removed from the sprigs, and stir. Thin out with EVOO as needed to have a creamy spreadable consistency
Goat Cheese, Orange Zest, Thyme
In a sauce pan drizzle some EVOO and heat on medium. Add the diced onions, and a pinch of salt. Sauté until the onions are cooked through, but make sure not to let them get crispy. This takes about 6 minutes. Remove from the pot, and add another drizzle of EVOO. Once it’s warm again add the rice, and toast a couple min until rice is translucent. Add the onions back, stir and add a splash of white wine to barely cover bottom of pot. Allow the alcohol to evaporate, then barely cover the rice with hot vegetable stock. The risotto should be on medium heat, simmering. As the stock evaporates, cover again. After about 10 min of cooking add the pumpkin purée, and stir well.
Keep gradually adding the stock to just cover the rice, and evaporate until the rice is al dente (not raw, but al dente) this takes about 15/20 min depending on which risotto rice you use. Once al dente, shut the heat off and allow the rice to sit for 30 seconds. Add a drizzle of EVOO, the butter, grated cheese and stir vigorously in a counter clockwise circular motion. This is the mantecatura phase that pulls the starch from the rice, and creams the rice with the grate cheese, butter and EVOO added. Keep adding stock as needed so that the risotto is not dry, but also not soupy. Once done, add a few dollops of the goat cheese blend and stir. Plate and serve the remaining goat cheese blend on top of the risotto.
