Pumpkin and Porcini Risotto
Ever since my siblings and I were kids, this was one of those meals that would make us run down to lunch screaming our heads off in joy. My mum’s been making this recipe for a long time, and now that I’m visiting I got her to teach me how to make it – and then figured out how to make it vegan. Turns out it wasn’t too hard, which is good, because this is probably my all time favorite risotto. Even if you only enjoy it half as much as I do, it’ll blow your mind away.
Ingredients (serves 2)
- 1/4 pumpkin
- 1 cup dried porcini mushrooms
- 1/2 onion
- handful of fresh rosemary
- 100ml coconut milk
- 100ml cheap white wine
- 400g risotto rice
- olive oil
- 2 tbsp margarine
- salt
- pepper
Preparation (45 minutes)
Put the dried porcini in a bowl full of water. Peel the pumpkin and chop it into cubes about 1-2cm thick. Chop the onion into very small pieces, drizzle some olive oil on a pan on medium high heat and add the onion and rosemary. After about 2 minutes, add the pumpkin. After letting it cook for about 7 minutes, drain the porcini and add them to the pan, but save the water for later. Boil water in a kettle. Place a large pot on maximum high heat, add the margarine, and, once it melts, add the rice. Stir around for about a minute, then add the wine. Keep stirring continually until all of the wine has evaporated, then turn the heat down to medium high and add the pumpkin and porcini (which should by now have been cooking for about 15 minutes). Stir the rice for about 3 more minutes while adding salt and pepper to taste (be generous with both). Then add the water from the porcini and stir around until it has evaporated. Add about 100ml of water from the kettle and keep stirring until it has all evaporated, and repeat until the rice is properly cooked. When it is ready, take it off the heat, add the coconut milk, and stir it in. Done!