Pumpkin and Fetta Risotto
My first risotto. It went well, I think.
The recipe:
I turned the oven on to 200°C to get all hot and lovely. Then I peeled and chopped 500g of butternut pumpkin, placing it on an oven tray and sprinkling it liberally with sea salt and coarsely ground black pepper, drizzling it lightly with olive oil and put the tray in the oven.
I poured 5.5 cups of vegetable stock into a saucepan over a moderate heat to simmer. I put a lightly oiled deep frypan on a moderate heat while I rinsed two cups of arborio rice. I added the rice to the frypan and stirred it until it turned translucent. Then I started adding small amounts of the stock to the rice every time the stock is absorbed, and stirring frequently until all the stock was gone.
I chopped about ¼ of a cup of fresh chives and ¼ cup of Auricchio parmigiano reggiano (the best parmesan I've ever had - for cooking with) and sliced 150g of fetta into small squares.
Once all the stock was mixed into the rice, I took the pumpkin from the oven and mixed it through the rice with the chives and parmesan. Taking the rice off the heat, I served it into bowls and laid the sliced fetta evenly on top.
I realised it looked kinda boring and went back for more chives as a garnish. I suggest you work that out earlier than I did ;)
I really enjoyed this dish. Straightforward and easily accomplished, but the flavours were subtle and mixed well.