Risotto with pumpkin and oyster mushroom

Lazy Sunday at home today and here I am cooking a yummy and creamy risotto.

Yesterday I went to my favourite grocery store here in Paris, Terroirs d’Avenir, and found fresh pumpkin and some nice oyster mushrooms, one great combination for a good risotto!

Back home I started to prepare a vegetarian stock.

For the recipe, please click here:

http://bacididamaglutenfree.com/en/portfolio/gluten-free-vegetarian-stock/

For the rice, I went for the Vialone nano, to me the best variety to cook a good risotto. You can buy it at Terroirs d’Avenir as well.

STEP 1

Let’s clean and peel the pumpkin and cut it in small cubes.

Cook it in a pot over low heat with one clove of garlic cut in two halves, two glasses of stock, 3 tablespoons of olive oil and a pinch of salt. Once the pumpkin gets soft and tender, put it a mixer without the garlic and mix it until you get a smooth cream.

Cut the butter in small cubes and put it in the fridge. It has to be cold when you add it to the rice.

Grate the parmigiano reggiano.

Peel the onion and cut it in thin slices. Put it aside.

STEP 2

Wash the oyster mushrooms under fresh water very gently and put them on a kitchen cloth. Let them dry. Take a large pan. Add 3 tablespoons of olive oil and one clove of garlic cut in two haves. Cook over low heat. When the garlic turns golden, turn the heat up and add the mushroom and a pinch of salt. They will cook very quickly. Once ready put them aside in a bowl. Just the mushrooms, not the juice.

STEP 3

Take a large pot. Add 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and the onion. Put the pot over low heat. When the onion turns golden brown, add the rice and turn the heat on medium. Let the rice toast for a couple of minutes stirring it constantly.

Add the white wine. Once evaporated, add pumpkin cream and some stock. The stock has to just cover the rice – no need to add more.

Turn the heat on low. Taste it to see if you need more salt.

STEP 3

Cooking a risotto requires some patience and time. You need to stir it from time to time, very gently, and check that it does not stick to the pot. You need to add the stock little by little until the rice is cooked the way you like it and stock is absorbed.

I can’t tell you how much stock you will need, you just need to befriend your rice and get to taste it until it is ready.

It has not to get too sticky or too liquid, the right consistency is creamy or as we say it in Italian “all’onda”. “All’onda” means that you can create waves with the risotto when you stir it in the pot.

STEP 4

When the risotto is ready, turn the heat off.

Now you are ready for the renown “mantecatura” !

The “mantecatura” consists in adding the parmigiano reggiano and the cold butter little by little. Mix until completely melted and blended with the rice.

Add some parsley and the oyster mushrooms on top.

Buon appetito !