Stir, add liquid, stir.
I was first introduced to risotto by a dear friend of mine when I went over to her house for dinner. I'd eaten risotto before, but never thought about how it was made. As it turns out, a lot of stirring. The small amounts of liquid, added in a bit at a time, created a creamy texture when absorbed little by little into the Arborio rice. When she made it, though, she stirred in a large portion of goat cheese at the very end, which took it from "oh cool risotto" to "NO WAY THIS IS AMAZING risotto."
Anyway, I've since made risotto a total of two times. Like I said, there's a lot of stirring involved. It's a lot of work for a one-person meal, you know? The first time was summery recipe with tomatoes, mushrooms, asparagus and sausage. Tonight, to mark fall and the pumpkin season, it was pumpkin risotto.
Thyme
The original recipe called for seared scallops, but I went with tuna mostly because (1) I couldn't find large scallops, but also (2) the ones I had found on a previous shopping trip were really expensive. By the time I decided I did want them, well.. refer to reason #1.
My dinner friend stirring for me as I prepped the rest of the meal. Amazing stirring job, really. He got suspicious of my many "great job stirring" compliments, but the truth is, successful risotto texture is dependent on the small amounts of liquid absorbed evenly through constant stirring. In any case, he was stirring too fast for me to get a great photo.
With pumpkin puree mixture and thyme added.
Finished product, with the seared tuna peeking in from the side and sauteed greens in the background.
Pumpkin Risotto
Adapted from spoon fork bacon
1¼ cups pumpkin puree
2 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
pinch ground clove
¼ cup hot vegetable broth
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, divided
4 to 5 cups low sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups Arborio rice
2 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
¼ cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, minced
salt and pepper to taste
Stir together the first six ingredients for the risotto into a small pot and bring to a simmer. Simmer for about 5 minutes. Remove mixture from the heat and pour into a blender with the broth, season with salt and pepper and blend. (I used my stick blender and just blended in the pot--one less dish!). With the motor running, add ¼ cup of butter into the blender, 1 tablespoon at a time. Blend until smooth, about 3 minutes. Pour the mixture into a bowl and set aside until ready to use.
Pour the chicken broth into a medium pot and warm over low heat.
Place a large pan over medium heat and melt the remaining butter and olive oil. Add the onion and garlic and sauté for about 3 minutes. Add the rice and sauté for 3 to 5 minute or until each grain of rice is coated in oil and there is a white dot in the center of each grain. Begin adding the warm broth to the rice, one ladle full at a time, stirring frequently. Each time the liquid evaporates, add another ladle of broth and continue to stir. Continue to add liquid and stir until the rice is al dente, 20-25 minutes. Stir in the pumpkin puree until completely combined. Stir in the cream cheese and parmesan until smooth. Fold in the thyme and season with salt and pepper.
*In the original recipe, it calls for heavy cream and marscapone cheese instead of milk and cream cheese, respectively. I didn't want to get a whole container of heavy cream for just two tbsp and ditto for the marscapone. I felt the recipe turned out delicious even without it!