Ingredients
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2 cups butternut pumpkin, seeded and diced into 1 centimetre square cubes (squash)
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3 cups chicken stock (or you can use a good quality vegetable stock if you prefer)
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1 cup dry white wine
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9 saffron strands
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1 dried bay leaf
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3 tablespoons butter (you can use olive oil if you want to be healthier)
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3 garlic cloves, chopped finely
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1 large onion, chopped finely
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300 g risotto rice
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1/2 cup basil leaves, roughly torn
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40 g parmesan cheese, grated
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2 medium lemons
Instructions
- Heat the oven until it has reached 200 degrees (Celsius).
- Dice the pumpkin and place in the oven in a roasting dish. Roast until soft (but still holding its shape - it will need to be stirred into the risotto so you don't want it to turn to mush). This should take around 25-30 minutes.
- Gently heat the chicken stock, wine, saffron strands and bay leaf in a saucepan until simmering.
- In a large frypan heat the butter until melted and slightly bubbling. Add the garlic, onion and lemon zest and cook over a medium heat until the onion is soft and translucent. Don't allow it to burn.
- Add the rice and stir to coat it in the mixture already in the pan for about 2 minutes.
- Add the stock/wine mixture one ladleful at a time. Stir constantly and add more of the stock as the rice soaks it up. Keep doing this until the rice is cooked and the stock has been used.
- Add the roast pumpkin and lemon juice, and stir until combined.
- Then, add the chopped basil and stir through until just wilted.
- Finally, top with ground black pepper and the grated parmesan and serve with crusty french bread (and maybe a salad).