We grew this little beauty. It seemed such a shame to cut it up that I just popped it in the oven at 200°c, gas mark 6 or near the bottom of the Aga’s roasting oven covered in olive oil and roasted it until tender. Because it is quite small it took only twenty five to thirty minutes to roast. Whilst it was roasting I made a risotto inspired by my recent fidget pie adventures using cider, sage, prosciutto, cream and a deliciously sweet apple from our tree. I stuffed as much of this risotto into the hollowed out pumpkin (removing the seeds but leaving the flesh intact) as I could and then roasted again for 15-20 minutes until bubbling.
It’s a wonderful celebration of autumn even if we are having a last fling with summer here in the UK this week. It’s a great dish to take whole to the table and let everyone dig out as much risotto and pumpkin flesh as they can.
This pumpkin served 2 hungry adults and 1 hungry child (and 1 child who said yuck – no surprise there though).
1 small to medium-sized pumpkin
Olive oil
25g butter
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, chopped finely
1 small apple, cored and sliced thinly (you can leave the skin on)
3-4 slices of prosciutto (reserve 1 slice to place on top for the final roasting)
5-6 sage leaves, finely sliced
120g risotto rice
300ml cider
250ml water
2 tbsp double cream
salt and pepper to taste
Method
Place the whole pumpkin in a roasting tin and drizzle with olive oil. Roast in a hot oven, 200°c, gas mark 6 or the roasting oven of the Aga until tender when a skewer is pushed through to the centre. How long this takes will depend on the size of the pumpkin. Mine took thirty minutes. Allow to cool a little and then slice off the top and scoop out the seeds. Place the hollow pumpkin back onto the roasting tray.
Make the risotto by frying the onion, garlic and sliced apple in the butter for a few minutes until the onions are translucent. Heat the cider and water together in a pan and keep at barely simmering. Add the prosciutto and sage leaves to the onions and continue to fry for a minute or two. Add the rice and stir until all of the grains are coated in the butter. Add a ladleful of the cider and water mixture and stir the risotto continuously. Add another ladleful when the first has evaporated and continue in this manner until the rice is creamy and has only a tiny bit of resistance when you bite into it. Add one more ladleful of cider and water and cook for a minute or so and then add the double cream, stir through. Season to taste and then fill the pumpkin with this mixture and place the reserved prosciutto on top. Place back into the oven for 15-20 minutes until all is bubbling. Serve with crusty bread and parmesan grated over the top.
Wow – I love that. The risotto looks amazing and then stuffing it in a home-grown pumpkin just makes it reach new heights. Beautiful!
Aw thanks Lou. We were very proud of our pumpkin and I wanted to do it justice.
Indeed wow. This really is upping the ante on the people that serve soup in round loaves. Imagine serving these at a dinner party; sure to impress.
Houses in Medeira? Seems a tad random – but hope it makes you a few bob.
Aw thanks VBB. It does seem a bit random but it is a test ad that I am working with just to see what happens and helping advertise a friend’s site. There is method in my madness – honest.
Oh yum, that looks so good. I so like a beautifully coloured tasty pumpkin and yours is great. Did you manage to get child #2 to taste any of it? And how do you get your roasting pan to look so clean – or is it just for show? 😉
Ha ha, well spotted Choc, that was the pan’s first outing. It was a cheap one that I picked up to use in our new pizza oven (did you hear that, our long wanted and now here pizza oven – will tell you more one of these days) and then didn’t use. Child number 2 is going through a phase of telling me that everything I cook is yuck. Child number one has come through the other side of this recently so I still hold out hope that number two will as well. She did taste it under duress and then said that yes it was definitely yuck. Oh well…..
This is such a lovely idea!! Not only looks great but I’m sure it must have tasted so comforting and absolutely heavenly!
Thanks Kate.
Autumn is my favourite season and I can’t wait for a bit of pumpkin and squash bite. Envious though of your homegrown pumpking – so perfect that its a shame to cut into, but needs be and afterall its food!
I agree Shaheen it did seem a shame to eat it. We have another one waiting to be cooked on the kitchen side and it really is a shame to cut into it. I saw some amazing gourds for sale at the market this week and was very tempted but knew that rather than be eaten they would become decorative items. I left them there.
Well,Kath, you’ve outdone yourself. I’m certain that this dish tastes as good as it looks. Perfect for fall. I can’t wait to hear of your cooking adventures in the new pizza oven. Please keep us informed.
It’s very exciting we have had lots of pizzas and cooked tandoori lamb in it so far. We are sure that our friends will stop coming soon out of fear of being force fed yet another pizza.
lots of ooohs and ahhhhs from across the pond—what a lovely pumpkin you grew, and I love your autumn-inspired risotto baked inside.
Thank you Nancy, we were immensely proud of that pumpkin – our first of the year. Thankfully this year we have grown enough to have several decent meals and some to carve on the 31st.
I adore home made risotto’s a lot & I love that it is made & stuffed into a pumpkin that you have grown yourself! What a delightful meal & I love the added apple in it! It must add a lovely flavour to the risotto!
Thanks Sophie, the apple did make a big difference, it was delicious.