Pretty much everyone knows it’s almost Halloween

PRETTY much everyone knows it’s almost Halloween when the pumpkins appear in the shops, pumpkins go hand in hand with Autumn and Halloween.

An orange fruit harvested in October, this nutritious and versatile plant features flowers, seeds and flesh that are edible and rich in vitamins. Pumpkin is used to make soups, desserts and bread, and many Americans include pumpkin pie in their Thanksgiving meals but we have a much more interesting recipe for you at the end of this article.

Carving pumpkins into jack-o’-lanterns is a popular Halloween tradition that originated hundreds of years ago in Ireland. Back then, however, jack-o’-lanterns were made out of turnips or potatoes; it wasn’t until Irish immigrants arrived in America and discovered the pumpkin that a new Halloween ritual was born.

To celebrate this delicious earthy veg, Chef Gareth Mason Group Executive for Retreat Restaurant’s and owner of Next Level Events & Private dining, shares with us a simple Risotto recipe that you can use your pumpkin for before you carve it! 

You will need

1kg of Pumpkin or squash cut into bite-sized chunks

2 Tbsp Olive oil

Bunch of fresh sage – half picked and half roughly chopped

1 1/2 Litres of vegetable stock

50g butter

1 onion finely chopped

300g risotto rice

1 small glass of white wine

50g finely grated parmesan

First up you need to get your oven hot – pre-heat to 220c, toss the pumpkin and a tbsp of olive oil into a roasting tin with the chopped sage and roast for 30 minutes until golden and soft.

Whilst that’s cooking away bring your stock to the boil and then keep on a low simmer. In a separate pan melt half the butter and sweat off your onion until soft but not coloured, stir the rice into the butter and onion and make sure it’s all coated, keep stirring until the rice is shiny and the edges begin to look transparent. Then add the good stuff and throw in your glass of wine (Then refill and have one yourself ) stirring until the wine has evaporated. Add the stock a ladle at a time and keep stirring for around 25-30 minutes. The rice should be al dente and the risotto should have a creamy slightly soupy consistency.

Now we can fry off out whole sage leaves in a little butter until crisp and set aside on some kitchen paper before taking out the pumpkin from the over. Mash half into a rough puree and keep half in chunks, stir through the puree, remaining butter and parmesan then allow to rest for a few minutes before plating up and topping with pumpkin chunks and crispy sage leaves.

Easy peasy and another show stopper to impress friends this Autumn!

We hope you enjoyed this article “Pretty much everyone knows it’s almost Halloween”.

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Written by

Charlie Loran

Manchester born mummy with a two year old diva (2020), living on the Costa del Sol for just short of a decade.
Former chef and restaurateur, holistic health fanatic and lover of long words.

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