Risotto with… autumn colours!

Risotto for all seasons: let’s discover the autumn recipes

We are in the season of warm colours: orange, yellow, red, brown.

Autumn, with its typical ingredients, also changes the colour of risotto, offering tasty and at the same time healthy recipes.

Regarding risotto, the rice variety recommended by Risotto.us, the Italian website dedicated to risotto, is always from the superfine family, like Carnaroli – loved by chefs, the Arborio – the most famous abroad – or the Sant’Andrea – the creamy, par excellence.

Risotto with pumpkin, chestnuts, blue cheese and amaretti biscuits

The autumn risotto arises from the contrast between the orange of the pumpkin and the brown of the chestnuts, on which stands the white and green of the blue cheese.

Creaminess and crunchiness complement each other with the sweet note of the amaretti crumble. Nice, good and even healthy.
Chestnuts, first of all, are rich in fiber and have a rather high caloric intake (almost 300 calories on 100 grams), covering the sugar intake of the dish.

Despite the sweet taste, instead, pumpkins have a very low amount of sugar if compared to the large amount of water and few calories, so they balance the dish very well.

The sweet notes of these ingredients contrast with the blue cheese, which in the production areas of Italian rice is usually Gorgonzola cheese, sweet or spicy (seasoned).

If these three elements give the recipe a great creaminess, there is need for a final touch of crunchiness for the risotto: so here is the amaretti crumble, which is the final treat for the arrival of the cold season.

Ingredients for 4 servings:

1. 320g Carnaroli rice
2. 300g pumpkin
3. 16 boiled chestnuts
4. 1/2 glass of white wine
5. Vegetable broth
6. 1 shallot
7. 200g Edelpilz
8. Butter and Parmigiano cheese
9. 12 amaretti biscuits

Method for the risotto:

In a casserole, brown the diced pumpkin with the shallot. Bring it to the boil by adding vegetable broth (prepared previously) and then mix it until you get a velvety cream.

Meanwhile, we toast the rice. Add the white wine by letting the alcohol evaporate and, stirring constantly, let it cook and gradually add hot broth.

When it is al dente and with the heat off, let’s keep it with the pumpkin cream, the boiled chestnuts, a knob of butter and Parmigiano. Meanwhile, melt the blue cheese in a bain marie.

Let’s serve the risotto, decorate it with the melted cheese and the crumbled amaretti. Enjoy your meal!

Rice, milk and chestnuts: the rural tradition

Have you fallen in love with the pairing rice and chestnuts? In fact, it is one of the rural traditions in the rice production areas.

The soup with milk, where rice was cooked together with chestnuts (boiled or dried ones, left to soak for a day), has always been the dish that, from the autumn, brought a winter atmosphere during the rice harvest season.
Here too there is the variant with pumpkin, for a sweeter note and a warmer colour.

Ingredients:

1. 200g Original or Round rice
2. 200g boiled and peeled chestnuts
3. 1 litre milk
4. Butter
5. Salt

Method:

In a saucepan, pour the milk and chestnuts with a pinch of salt and bring to the boil.
Add the rice and cook for 15 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat, add a knob of butter and serve hot.

Note:

Different rice varieties require different cooking times. In this recipe, we indicated the cooking time of the whole dish. If you want an al dente rice, you must respect the cooking time of the rice when it is combined with boiling water or broth, rather than milk, as in this case. Time is also affected by the quantity and quality of the sauce that comes into contact with the rice during cooking.

Cooking times of the rice varieties used in the recipe book:

• Carnaroli: 18 minutes for risotto, 16 minutes for boiled rice
• Arborio, Rome and Vialone Nano: 17 minutes for risotto, 16 minutes for boiled rice
• Baldo and Ribe: 17 minutes for risotto, 15 minutes for boiled rice
• S. Andrea: 16 minutes for risotto, 14 for boiled rice
• Round: 15 minutes

If using parboiled rice, follow the cooking times indicated on the package.

Did you like the article? Do you love cooking risotto? Book your experience in Piedmont with the Food Expert and learn more about the fascinating world of Italian rice!

Giulia is a licensed tourist guide for the provinces of Vercelli, Novara and Pavia. You will discover many rice varieties such as Carnaroli and Nero Artemide, a very fragrant cross between Nero Venere and Basmati. You will be engaged in cooking classes on rice and panissa, in the harvest of blueberries and berries. You will enter the world of the Sensory Analysis of Rice with Sommeliers of this cereal.