This pumpkin, goat cheese and dried cranberries risotto is one of the most delicious that I’ve ever eaten. The combination of flavors offers us a delicate but with character risotto. Pumpkin gives extra creaminess to our risotto, while blueberries and goat cheese gives flavor.
It’s pumpkin season and I can’t resists to buying a lot of pumpkins. From the pumpkin I like everything: the flavor, the color that gives to the meals and the versatility in the kitchen. As I have already shown you in another recipes with pumpkin, we can cook savory and sweet recipes.
Pumpkin is a very healthy and cheap vegetable. I love that it’s very easy to cook. In addition, it allows us to create dishes as spectacular as this risotto.
Ingredients for the pumpkin, goat cheese and dried cranberries risotto (serves 3):
- 275 g of rice
- 375 g roasted pumpkin pureé*
- 1 spring of fresh thyme
- Butter
- ½ onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 l of chicken or vegetable broth
- 100 g of goat cheese
- 1 handful of dried red cranberries
- Salt and pepper
* To make the roasted pumpkin puree: cut the pumpkin in pieces, brush it with olive oil, season with salt and bake it for 20 minutes (or until tender) at 200 ºC. After this time, blend until puree.
How to make pumpkin, goat cheese and dried cranberries risotto:
First, mix the pumpkin puree with 2 cups of broth and let it on medium heat.
In another pot, keep the broth hot during the whole process.
Now, chop the onion and the garlic. Cook it with a spoonful of butter for a few minutes, until it is ready. Meanwhile, separate the leaves from the stem of the thyme and chop finely.
Add another tablespoon of butter and the freshly chopped thyme to the onion. Mix well and add the rice. Put the stove over medium heat and let cook 1 minute to give flavor.
Add 2 cups of pumpkin puree and stir continuously until the broth has been absorbed. Add another cup of pumpkin puree and stir until the broth is fully absorbed. Repeat until the pumpkin puree is finished. At which time add broth, stirring continuously, until the liquid is absorbed.
After 10 minutes, add half of the shredded goat cheese and a handful of dried cranberries, mix well. Continue adding broth and stirring untill the rice is al dente (it takes about 15 to 20 minutes). At this point remove from heat and add 1 tablespoon of butter. Mix well.
Serve the rice by the remaining goat cheese crumbled above, a pinch of chopped fresh thyme and dried blueberries.
And we have ready the dinner: pumpkin, goat cheese and dried cranberries risotto.
