Pumpkin-Parsley Risotto

Photo courtesy of La Vita Saporita

The first runner-up to that other amazing risotto is this lovely bowl of deliciousness.

Although I normally reserve pumpkin-related stuff for the Fall, this weather has been so bizarrely autumnal recently, we decided to celebrate instead of curse it. It actually turned out to be a much lighter dish than I expected, so it's perfect for Spring as well.

I'm happy to report that the same taste-tester who stuck his head in this other pot of gooey goodness was caught sneaking the pot into the kitchen yet AGAIN. Super score!

Pumpkin-Parsley Risotto
Recipe courtesy of La Vita Saporita

1/2 cup olive oil
1-4 shallots (or 1 onion), chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 small bunch Italian (flat) parsley, chopped
1-1/2 cups pumpkin, cubed (500g/1lb)
2 cups risotto rice (300g)
1 cup vino bianco (white wine)
5-6 cups (1.5L) vegetable broth
freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup vegan parmesan (optional)

In a medium saucepan, heat the vegetable broth.

In a separate, heavy-bottomed saucepan, start by making your soffritto. This is the base for every good risotto. Heat the butter or olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the shallots (or onion) and the sea salt - this will help onion soften the onion without browning to keep the flavor delicate. Add the sugar and cook for 3-5 mins. Add the garlic and half the parsley and cook another 3-4 mins, stirring frequently.

Next, add the pumpkin and cook until fork-tender. This could take anywhere form 5-20 minutes, depending on the pumpkin. If it starts to stick, add a few spoons of stock to keep everything loose.

When you can cut through the pumpkin with the side of your wooden spoon, add the rice and saute for 1-2 minutes until the rice is well coated and slightly toasted.

When the rice is slightly translucent or spotted turn up the heat to high and stir for about 30 seconds to keep it from burning before adding the white wine - it should make that great sizzling sound and begin to evaporate immediately.

Then turn the heat back to medium and continue cooking (and stirring) until the wine has evaporated. Add enough stock to cover the rice completely and continue to cook, stirring often, until all the liquid is absorbed.

Add one cup at a time of the remaining stock, and keep stirring until it is absorbed again. It is this act of constant stirring that gives risotto its creamy texture. It is also one of the things that makes risotto such a great group activity, as it permits plenty of time to drink and gossip.

Repeat until the rice is al dente, tender but still very chewy. The consistency should be slightly liquid, somewhere between solid and soupy. Then season with a bit of pepper and check the salt.

If you happen to have some vegan parmesan, you can toss it in at this point or sprinkle it on top for serving. However, don't let anyone, ANYONE (not even great Italian food writers) tell you that risotto gets it's creamy consistency from butter or cheese 'cuz it just ain't so. Master the simple art of stirring and you, too, can be a Risotto Queen!

Spoon it into shallow bowls, sprinkle with remaining parsley and enjoy immediately.

Sun-dried Tomato-Basil Risotto with Balsamico

Photo courtesy of La Vita Saporita

It was a close race, but this Sun-dried Tomato-Basil Risotto was the most requested this week. For those of you who voted for the Pumpkin-Parsley Risotto, stay tuned - it will get posted before the weekend. Promise.

But back to this ridiculously good risotto. The Bear was highly skeptical when he saw the ingredients on the counter and I have to admit, I wasn't expecting it to be all that interesting either. But I had just found this recipe (and I hadn't gone to the market to get anything else) so we tried it out.

Wow.

This risotto is amazing. I can't remember the last time we dropped so many F-bombs in the kitchen - and I mean that in the best possible way.

Sun-Dried Tomato-Basil Risotto with Balsamic Vinegar
Courtesy of La Vita Saporita
Serves 4

5 cups vegetable broth
2 small tomatoes, peeled and chopped (about 1-1/2 cups)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or pressed
1-1/2 cups (250g) arborio rice
1 cup red wine
4-5 sun-dried tomatoes (about 3 oz), cut into bite size pieces
1-1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, chopped
salt & pepper to taste
20 fresh basil leaves, cut into thin strips (chiffonade)
2 oz goat cheese, crumbled (optional)

Pour the veggie broth into a saucepan and add the chopped tomatoes. Bring to simmer and reduce to warm, but don't take it off the heat. It's important that the cooking liquid is always hot to facilitate the starch release.

While that's happening, warm the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the onion with a teaspoon of salt - this will soften the onion and keep it from browning. Then add the garlic and saute until soft.

Next, add the rice and stir with a wooden spoon until the rice is thoroughly coated and becomes translucent. Nicely toasted rice is another secret to great risotto.

Add in a cup of red wine (and pour one for yourself while you're at it) and stir until the liquid is absorbed. Then add a cup of the broth and tomatoes and stir. And stir. And sip. And stir some more.

When the broth has been absorbed, add another cup and keep stirring until the liquid has again been absorbed. Feel free to pour yourself another glass of wine. Call your mom. Make out with your husband. But whatever you do, keep stirring.

Continue adding the broth a cup at a time. When the rice starts to soften (test a couple of grains after 2-3 cups), stir in the sun-dried tomatoes then continue adding rest of the broth (a cup at a time) and stir-stir-stirring until the rice is al dente (tender but slightly firm in center).

When the rice is nice and creamy, stir in the last cup of broth along with the balsamic vinegar. When these have been mostly absorbed, remove from heat, add the chopped parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste. The traditional texture is all'onda (wavy). It should spread out easily, but not have a watery perimeter so be sure not to cook the liquid out completely.

Risotto should be served and eaten immediately or it will continue to cook itself in its own heat which will dry it out and make the grains too soft.

Spoon onto individual plates or bowls, garnish with the basil chiffonade (and a few crumbles of goat cheese if you like) and serve with the remaining red wine.

Buon appetito!

Leek Risotto with Spring Peas

Vegan risotto need not be an oxymoron, but a soy-based bastardization of this authentic regional recipe would be borderline blasphemous in my family.

The Bear makes some of the best risotto I've ever tasted - and I've tasted a LOT of risotto. Of course, anything jammed with butter, cream and cheese is usually pretty heavenly, artery-blockages notwithstanding. So how the hell I was ever going to get away with a butterless, creamless, cheeseless risotto that wouldn't end in divorce...

The answer was sitting quietly on my kitchen counter: leeks.

I grabbed my Italian cooking bible and frantically searched for a recipe. Found one, yay! Risotto con porri e panna: starts with butter, ends with cream and is finished with cheese. Boo. This is now a personal vision quest...

Though excited at first, the Bear quickly turned skeptical when he scanned the fridge and found no butter, cream or cheese in the house. He let me amuse myself anyway, secretly planning to rectify the situation with an emergency pizza. I don't know if it was because he had such low expectations to begin with, but he was blown away - seriously blown away - by how good this was - especially because there was virtually nothing in it!

The actual recipe is ridiculously simple: slice up some leeks, cook 'em down, add rice and stir, add broth and stir (repeat this move about 10 times), throw in peas at the end, garnish and serve. However, there are a few secrets to making a truly transcendent risotto. I'm eternally grateful that they were passed on to me, so if you're interested, here they are:

1) First and foremost, take your time. Grab your iPod, open a bottle of wine, phone a friend and get comfortable in front of the stove. Plan to be there for at least 40-45 minutes, adding one cup of liquid at a time and stirring constantly. Con-stant-ly. Leaving rice to soak in an unattended steambath yields nothing but...well, cooked rice.


2) You don't have to make it yourself, but whether it comes from a can, a box, or a boullion, use broth. Never water. I cannot emphasize this enough, in conjunction with the previous point. Rice cooks itself in water. Risotto is prepared by constantly adding and cooking down broth.

3) Use good risotto rice and the best quality ingredients you can find. Cooking is nothing but chemistry. Compensating for the lack of butter, cream and cheese is easy when you use fresh ingredients and give their flavors time to develop and marinate.

4) If by some bizarre chance you've forgotten about an open bottle of Prosecco - or any sparkling or white wine - and allowed it to go flat in the back of your fridge (gasp!), this is an excellent way to rectify the situation. Use that last cup (surely you don't have more than that left over) for the first absorption before continuing to add the broth...one cup at a time.