Saffron Pumpkin Risotto

So I had two little sugar pumpkins hanging out in my super small kitchen...  Yes, they were small, but my kitchen is extra small so they were indeed taking up too much room.  What to do... What to do?

A few months ago I and my dear foodie-friend Katie both made Saffron Pumpkin Risotto and it was delicious (based off of Rachel Ray's Milanese-Style Risotto with Pumpkin)!  So I decided to recreate the recipe for the blog hoping some of you who may come across this recipe will give it a try (mine is based off of Ina Garten's Saffron Risotto with Butternut Squash).  It is so good... especially when you, like me, LOVE squash/pumpkin, etc.

So risottos may seem a little scary or intimidating, but I assure you, they are NOT hard, and they are so worth the effort it does take to create them!!  Plus, they are incredibly versatile and make a great one-dish meal (if you are okay without meat, which my husband is generally not).

Onto pumpkin risotto!  First: roast one sugar pumpkin in the oven until all the flesh is soft.  Let it sit out after it is roasted to cool down before getting all the flesh into your food processor--don't burn your fingers!  Put 3/4 of the pumpkin flesh into your processor and add about a tsp of salt and half a tsp of pepper.  Process until smooth.

Sidenote: to roast the pumpkin--cut and seed pumpkin, then cut pumpkin into four pieces. Rub with oil, salt and pepper.  Roast for 30-45 minutes in 400 degree oven until flesh is soft when pierced by knife.

Now, make sure you keep your pumpkin seeds and roast those with salt after you removed your pumpkin and are waiting for it to cool.  Put those in a little side dish to be served as a risotto topping/mix-in.  Use the other quarter of your roasted pumpkin as another topping for the risotto.  Just cube it and put in a serving dish along side the roasted, salted seeds.

While your pumpkin is roasting away, put 6 cups of chicken stock in a stock pot on medium-low heat.  Add the saffron (one good tsp--I get mine in the perfect usable size from World Market and I just use the entire little amount in my stock) to the stock so the stock is flavored by it while it simmers, but you can add this in to the actual risotto if you prefer.

After your pumpkin is pureed to perfection and you have some pretty warm stock, saute about 3 chopped up pieces of bacon in a large dutch oven.  After the fat is rendered and the bacon is crispy, add 4tbsp butter and one medium onion--saute until almost translucent.  Add one and a half cups of Arborio rice (yes, this rice is a must--regular long grain or medium grain rice will not work as a good risotto rice).  Make sure all the rice has been coated by the butter/bacon fat and then add one cup dry white wine.  Reduce that until the rice seems pretty dry again and all the wine seems gone, then start adding your hot broth/stock one large ladle-full at a time.  For risotto, you need to be stirring the rice at least 75% of the time.  Yes, this process will go for at least 25-30 minutes, so make sure you have everything else done or you have a husband on whom you can count on to be the stirring man.

Continue cooking the rice on medium-low heat and adding a ladle of stock once the risotto seems a little dry.  You may not use all of your stock, but you should use at least 3/4 of it.  Once you feel your risotto has maxed liquid capacity, add the pumpkin puree and one cup of grated parmesan.  Mix well and serve, remembering to add the pumpkin pieces and pumpkin seeds for added saltiness and texture!