Nina's Pumpkin Risotto Recipe

Nina’s Pumpkin Risotto is delicious and will add a little Italian flavor to your holiday meal! This is a traditional Italian dish from Northern Italy and very popular in Italy during the fall season.

Her secrets:

• Make sure you have the right rice, her go-to is Vialone Nano but Canairoli or in a pinch Arborio will work too
• Use an espresso cup of rice per person to get the right serving size. Works every time!
• Homemade broth! A good quality vegetable broth will do just fine as well.

~ Nina’s Pumpkin Risotto ~

• Peel and cut into small cubes about 1 pound of pumpkin or butternut squash.
• In a saucepan, heat until piping hot 6 cups of broth and have it ready.
• In a large sauté pan, add half a medium onion finely diced, 3 pats of butter and a bit of EVOO. Sauté for 5 minutes.
• Add diced pumpkin and a ladle of hot broth and let simmer over medium heat, covered for about 10 minutes.
• When the pumpkin has absorbed most of the broth and is fork tender, remove from heat and set aside.
• In a Dutch oven, add another 3 pats of butter, a bit of EVOO and the other half of the medium onion finely diced. Sauté until the onion is soft and translucent.
• Add rice to the onions over high-heat and toast until juices have been absorbed and the rice starts to release a nutty aroma.
• Just as the rice starts to stick, deglaze with 1/2 cup of leftover white wine or prosecco, stirring constantly.
• Once the wine has cooked off, continue to add hot broth to rice and onion mixture one ladle at a time, stirring until the liquid is almost completely absorbed. Do this until the rice arrives at the desired texture. Depending on your taste, this takes about 5-6 cups of broth; Nina likes it very “al dente”!
• Add sauteed pumpkin and onion mixture to rice, being careful not to add any liquid from the pumpkin. Stir in a few slices of butter and plenty of fresh grated Parmesan cheese.

Serve immediately with Nina’s favorite prosecco, Zucchetto’s PuroFol - Extra Brut available at docgimports.com. A match made in heaven! Enjoy!