Pumpkin and Sage Risotto

Autumn has definitely arrived in the produce section. From romanesco broccoli to the veg box full of squashes given us by Mr A&N’s mother (who runs such a formidable home vegetable garden she can just about sustain their two-person household all year) – as much as summer delights with its sweet berries and fresh greens, autumn holds a cornucopia of delights.

I like the fact that in the UK most of the pumpkins you'll find are intended to be eaten. Coming from America, I’m used to carving a pumpkin at Halloween or magically finding a pumpkin transformed into pie-state at Thanksgiving, but the pumpkin is never quite taken seriously as a food. Pumpkin can be fantastic roasted or made into soup, and home-roasted pumpkin seeds are as delicious to me as a big bowl of popcorn (and I rank that high on the deliciousness scale).

The petite pumpkin I picked up was designated in my mind to become a risotto; I had never tried it before, but the creaminess of a risotto seemed right to be paired with the pumpkin. It was also conveniently timed to let me join in the risotto relay event held at The Baker and the Curry Maker. I really wanted to include sage in my risotto (that, too, just felt right) but sage is a very hard herb to find fresh. After going to 3 grocery stores I had to admit defeat (and I also had, I vowed again, to grow a hearty sage plant in the garden once our building works are done). We have emergency dried whole sage leaves in the cupboard which are little more than a sad gesture but I used them in the risotto anyway.

I roasted the pumpkin seeds with a bit of olive oil, salt, and plenty of pepper, and sprinkled the seeds on the top. The pumpkin was probably not as flavorful as it could have been, so along with the lack of real sage the risotto on the whole lacked a bit of a punch. Stoked up by generous amounts of parmesan, it was still a properly creamy and tasty risotto, and with an autumn full of pumpkins ahead I will probably be eating this again (if, please someone, I can find some fresh sage).


Pumpkin and Sage Risotto
Enough for 4 adults as a main course

• 1 small pumpkin (up to 1 kilo)
• 500 grams of risotto rice
• 1 medium onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• Handful of fresh sage, roughly chopped
• 1 1/2 - 2 litres soup stock (chicken or vegetable)
• Knob of butter
• Parmesan, salt, and pepper to taste

1. Skin and dice the pumpkin into small cubes (about 1 cm square is ideal)
2. Chop the onion and garlic into small pieces
3. Heat a bit of olive oil in a large pan or good cast-iron pot, and sautee the onions until soft
4. Add the garlic and sage and stir
5. Add the risotto and pumpkin and stir to coat
6. Add the stock a cupful or two at a time so that the pumpkin and rice are covered
7. Stir the dish constantly, only adding more liquid when the stock added has been absorbed.
8. Keep stirring and adding stock until the rice and pumpkin are soft; about 20/25 minutes.
9. Turn off the heat and add a knob of butter, and stir through the risotto.
10. Add parmesean, salt, and pepper to taste. Serve immediately, with pumpkin seeds on top or on the side for a bit of crunch.

Squid Paella

I don't often see fresh (and nice-looking fresh) squid on sale, but when I do I usually buy it. Having squid on hand as well as a bit of risotto rice in the cupboard presented me with an obvious answer: squid risotto. I checked my cookbooks and found a nice looking twist on a risotto, a squid paella using risotto rice from Neil Parry that has some appropriate Spanish-sounding touches to it. The main way the paella differs from the risotto is in the stirring; risottos should be almost constantly stirred, where paella's should just cook down until the rice is tender and the liquid gone, which (hopefully) forms a nice crusty bottom on the paella. Hopefully, this isn't a radical enough departure from a risotto that it disqualifies me from the Risotto Relay held over at the Baker and the Curry Maker.

I had hoped to salvage some black ink from the squid to make the dish enchantingly gothic, but hardly any ink came out when I cleaned them. I was tempted to use black food coloring for the effect, but that temptation lasted for only a handful of seconds before I decided it wasn't Halloween and I wasn't a child, and I should just let nature have its way.

The squid was very tender since it had been braised in all that liquid for a good amount of time, and I thought leaving the risotto rice to boil down in the liquid rather than constantly stirring it worked really well. I had cooked a pot-full of chicken pieces to come up with all the stock for the rice, and wound up mixing in some of the shredded chicken from that since I do like my protein and it made the venture more tasty. Sadly, it didn't form a crunchy crust as the recipe hinted at (I used a large frying pan rather than risotto pan but don't think this made the difference), but it was an easy enough dish to make that I intend to try again until I get that crunch.


Squid Ink Paella, adapted from Neil Parry

• 450 g/1lb paella or risotto rice
• Olive oil
• 1 red onion, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• sea salt
• 8 small squid tubes, cleaned and cut into rings
• 1 tsp chili flakes
• 1 tsp smoky hot paprika
• 2 Tbs squid ink
• 1 Tbs tomato paste
• 5-7 C chicken stock
• 1 C shredded chicken (optional)
• 4 Tbs chopped parlsey (optional)

1. Heat a large paella pan or large frying pan, along with a good dash of olive oil
2. Add onion, garlic, and a bit of sea salt and cook for a couple of minutes
3. Add squid, stirring occasionally and cooking for 3-4 minutes
4. Add chili flakes, paprika, squid ink, and tomato paste, and stir
5. When mixed, add rice and chicken stock at the same time
6. Stir and bring to a simmer, and leave to cook for around 25 minutes or until the liquid has evaporated, taking care not to stir while cooking (My note: I added only 5 cups of liquid due to the size of my pan, and still needed to cook for around 30 minutes; the rice was perfect, though)
7. Remove pan from heat and cover with towel, allowing to sit for 5 minutes
8. Sprinkle with parsely and a bit of pepper, and some of the shredded chicken. Serve so that everyone gets a bit of crunchy crust (if you're lucky to get that result!)
   
9. Optional: Neil Parry recommends serving this with aioli.