Pumpkin Risotto

I asked Mike to choose which book for me to try and out next and he chose Georgio Locattelli's 'Made in Italy'. It is a weighty tome but a book that is beautifully put together. It exudes quality from the paper to the photographs, Georgio is also pretty gorgeous to look at so the book has lots to recommend it but I have a confession to make. I have only ever made one recipe from it Pasta Twists with onion on page 380 which from my dim and distant memory was, I recall, very nice. I can't really put my finger on why I don't use the book, perhaps its just too big and unwieldy but I was determined to give it a shot. My sister Ann was coming to visit so I decided to try a risotto, pumpkin risotto to be exact which can be found on Page 243. I like risotto but we rarely eat it as it can upset Mike's stomach but he volunteered to give it a go. 

I didn't read the recipe properly until the night before and had discussed it with Mike earlier over dinner. I was concerned that it may be a little bland and hoped that the recipe would call for roasting the pumpkin (I had in fact bought squash as a substitute) to give the risotto flavour. However I was more than disappointed, I was alarmed. The recipe started with soak the pumpkin in milk ... uk ... but we rolled with it. According to Gorgeous Georgio it helps the pumpkin cook. After 12 hours soaking in milk I drained it off, dried the squash off and followed the recipe which was a traditional risotto and easy to follow. Mike doesn't like his risotto al dente and I hesitated whether or not to add a final drop of stock ... sometimes less is more.

I served it up to tonight's guinea pigs, my husband and sister. 'Oh," said Ann "Rice pudding with apricots." 'Thanks Ann!

We decided it wasn't bad, it was pleasant enough but a bit stodgy which was my fault because I added too much stock, always a danger with risotto, especially when trying to avoid anything too al dente. I asked Mike "So would you eat it again?" 'Well yes," he replied 'If there was nothing else." I guess that was an apt description. Georgio you are gorgeous but we won't try this one again .... unless there was nothing else!