When made well, risotto has the most amazing flavour and texture that will even keep your kids coming back for seconds! Enjoy our simple recipe using the essential ingredients of a risotto – a good quality home made stock, butter, parmesan, seasonal veggies and risotto rice.
EASY PEASY PUMPKIN, PEA & MUSHROOM RISOTTO
ALLERGENS: gluten, dairy
INGREDIENTS FOR 12 SERVES
Butter to sauté (choose organic grass fed butter as a preference)
1 medium brown onion, finely chopped or blitzed in a food processor
400g butternut pumpkin, grated on a large grate (you can use any other pumpkin variety that’s in season)
50g mushrooms, chopped (swiss browns are delicious)
1 cup peas (frozen will do if you can’t get fresh)
2 cups (500g) Arborio rice
About 5-6 cups home made chicken stock, but more if needed (chicken stock provides great flavour but use a vegetarian stock if you cannot use chicken stock)
90g grated or shaved Parmesan cheese
Freshly ground sea salt and pepper to taste
METHOD
- Heat the butter in a large fry pan over medium heat.
- Add the butternut, stirring, for about 10 minutes or until golden and tender to touch. The butternut must be softened before you remove from the heat. Transfer to a bowl, and cover to keep warm.
- Add the onion to the pan (you might need to add a little more butter) and cook for 5 minutes or until the onion becomes translucent.
- Add the mushrooms and cook for 5 or so minutes.
- Add the rice and stir to coat through the onions and mushrooms.
- Add half the stock and bring to the boil. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 7 minutes or until the stock has been absorbed. Add the remaining stock. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 to 15 minutes or until the remaining stock has been absorbed.
- Stir in the softened pumpkin and peas and cook for a further 15-20 minutes or until the rice has taken on a soft and creamy looking appearance.
- Stir through the Parmesan cheese and serve.
THE SECRET TO A GREAT RISOTTO….
- Less is more and choosing the best quality ingredients is probably the single most important factor to making a truly delicious risotto. A few really fresh, seasonal ingredients will outshine a risotto with too many confusing ingredients.
- Risotto gets is signature creaminess from the rice, so Arborio is favoured because of its higher starch content. Pearled barley is another great option. Just a word of caution – don’t overcook the rice otherwise you’ll end up with a gluggy risotto.
- A good quality stock provides exceptional flavour; and the more stock the rice absorbs, the richer and creamier the result will be.
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