Savor the Season: How to Make Irresistible Pumpkin Risotto with Wine!

I love pumpkin, I love Chardonnay and I love cooking! So when Judith Lewis and I started talking about pumpkin wine and pumpkin risotto with Chardonnay in this episode for fall cooking and spooky stories (listen here), I couldn’t resist making it and sharing the recipe with you here. Like all risottos, you do have to stand over the stove and stir, but hey, you have white wine at hand, so pour yourself a glass and sip and stir at the same time.

Ingredients

6 cups of vegetable or beef stock or a blend
1 Tbsp of olive oil and 1 Tbsp of unsalted butter
1 large onion, finally diced
1 1/2 cups of Italian-style rice (Arborio or other similar rice)
3/4 cup of Chardonnay (also, a Semillon blend would work really well too)
1 tsp of nutmeg
1/2 tsp of white pepper
1 tsp of salt
1 1/2 cups of cooked squash or pumpkin puree (if using cooked squash, make sure that you have removed as much water as possible – you want the squash to be like a puree)
4 Tbsp of butter
2 oz of grated Italian cheese (your choice)

Method

1. In a pot, boil the stock, then lower the temperature so that it’s simmering.
2. In another large pot, heat the oil and butter, and add the onions and rice. Sauté the mixture until the onions are almost translucent. If you start to see brown bits of onions, you know it’s time to go the next step.
3. Add the white wine and stir.
4. And 1 cup of stock and stir until all the liquid has been absorbed.
5. Add the nutmeg, salt and white pepper. Stir.
6. One cup at a time, add the stock, stirring each time until the liquid is absorbed.
7. Stir in the squash or pumpkin puree until everything is completely combined.
8. Add the 4 Tbsp of butter and mix.
9. Remove from the heat and transfer to a serving bowl. Sprinkle the risotto with cheese.

This recipe is based on the pumpkin risotto recipe from Kindly Sweet – you can find the original here. I’ve made a few changes but seriously, either version is wonderful.