COMFORT FOOD ITALIAN STYLE!

If you're in the states, chances are pretty good that you've experienced some snow this winter.  Many of you might have experienced snow to the extreme, and there have been some pretty frigid temperatures to go along with that snow.  Here in Umbria it's been pretty darn cold, with temps dipping into the teens a couple of times, and it's not unusual for us to dip below freezing.  All in all our winter hasn't been as rough as it is in other parts of the world, but still the gray gloomy days of winter make me want to curl up with a good book and a cup of hot chocolate.

We've also been enjoying some good ole comfort food - a big pot of chili,  macaroni and cheese, a nice pork roast and potatoes in the oven to warm not only the soul but also the kitchen - and make the house smell great in the process.  Today we had some comfort food Italian style:  risotto.  Risotto at it's best is creamy and filling, and this recipe is also the perfect one pot meal.  Add a salad if you like, and lunch is served!






Risotto with Pancetta and Pumpkin

1/4 pound thinly sliced pancetta, cut into ¼” strips

3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 lb pumpkin (or butternut squash) cut into 1 ½” by ¼” sticks

8 sage leaves

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

¾ cup white wine

5 1/2 cups chicken stock

4 Tbsp unsalted butter

1 medium onion, finely diced

2 ½ cups arborio rice

½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving


In a large skillet, cook the pancetta over moderate heat until crisp, about 4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the pancetta to a medium bowl. Add 1 Tbsp olive oil to the fat in the skillet. Add the pumpkin and cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 8 minutes. Add the sage, salt and pepper, and cook until aromatic, about 1 minute longer. Transfer the pumpkin to the bowl with the pancetta. (Make ahead tip: The pancetta and pumpkin can be refrigerated overnight. Return to room temperature before using.)

In a medium saucepan, bring the stock to a simmer over moderately high heat. Reduce the heat to low and keep warm.

In a large saucepan, melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the onion and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add the rice and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the wine and cook, stirring constantly, until absorbed. Add 1/2 cup of the hot stock and cook, stirring, until absorbed. Continue adding the stock, about 1/2 cup at a time, and stirring constantly until it is nearly absorbed before adding more. The risotto is done when the rice is just tender but still has a bit of a 'bite' and the liquid is creamy, about 20 minutes.

Stir the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter and the 1/2 cup of Parmesan into the risotto. Gently fold in the pumpkin and pancetta. Spoon the risotto into warmed bowls, sprinkle with Parmesan and serve.


Next time I'll probably try substituting sausage for the pancetta, just to compare, but this version was delicious - and very comforting.

RECIPES WITH PUMPKIN

While we were in the states I thought I'd make:

Pumpkin Quiche

500 gr (about 1 lb) pumpkin, roughly cubed
200 gr (2-3) sausage, chopped
3 eggs
1 small yellow onion
Handful of pinenuts
Parmigiano, grated
Savory pastry sheet (such as for a quiche)
Milk

In a small frying pan, cook the chopped sausage til almost done. Take off heat.

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Place the savory pastry dough in a 9” pie pan.

Chop the onion and sauté with 1 Tbsp. of oil . While the onion is cooking, roughly cube the pumpkin. When the onion starts to turn translucent, add the pumpkin chunks. Cook about 10-15, until the pumpkin will break down easily with spoon but is not mushy. Mix in sausage until evenly distributed.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with a splash of milk until frothy. Grate in a small amount of parmigiano and mix, adding fresh ground pepper.Spoon half of the pumpkin mix into the baking pan. Pour egg mix over, and then spoon the rest of the pumpkin mix in. Sprinkle a handful of parmigiano and some pine nuts on top, and bake for about 40 minutes

This recipe is a winter staple in our house, and although I can still buy pumpkin at the grocery I usually have some in the freezer. It's easier to buy a few whole pumpkins, roast them then freeze for later use. I used some of the pumpkin for pies at Thanksgiving and the rest will be used either for this quiche or for pumpkin soup.

Of course I didn't have any pumpkin in the freezer in Louisville, so I headed out to Paul's, the local fruit and vegetable market. I was surprised when they told me they didn't have any pumpkins because the season was over. I know they use a lot of local produce but still figured they'd have pumpkin. I guess for most Americans once Thanksgiving is over they don't think about pumpkins anymore.

My next stop was Whole Foods. I knew they'd have suppliers from all over the country and was sure they'd have some fresh pumpkin. Wrong! Obviously I wasn't going to find fresh pumpkin at my local Kroger, so I just gave up the idea of making the quiche. Imagaine my surprise when I walked into the Super WalMart one day and saw an entire display of fresh pumpkins! I'm not really sure why they had them, but at least next time I'll know where to look!

I'd seen several recipes for risotto with pumpkin and had printed them out. I had this recipe:

Pumpkin and Sage Risotto

1-1/2 cups of rice (Arborio or Carnaroli)
2 cups of fresh pumpkin cubed (or butternut squash)
6 tbsp butter
6 cups of chicken broth
1+ cups of water
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
3/4 cup of dry white wine
3 tbsp of fresh chopped sage
1/2 cup of fresh grated parmesan
salt and pepper to taste

Heat chicken broth in pot and keep warm.

In a separate pot, melt 4 tbsp of butter and sauté chopped onion and garlic
When the onions are translucent and tender, add the rice stirring until coated with the butter, about 3 minutes.

Add white wine and stir until absorbed by the rice. Stir in 2 cups of broth and pumpkin. Continue stirring until liquid is absorbed.

Add an additional cup of broth and chopped sage. Continue adding broth 1 cup at a time as liquid is absorbed and continues to cook. Prior to adding last cup of broth, test pumpkin and rice for doneness: Pumpkin should be tender and rice should be chewy not crunchy.

Add remaining cup of broth, 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese and 2 remaining tbsp of butter stir until absorbed but still moist.

Serve with remaining parmesan cheese

For the two of us that recipe sounded like it would make too much, so I'll save it recipe for when we have company and today I'm going to make this recipe:

Risotto di Zucca Gialla (Rice with Pumpkin)

2 young leeks
extra virgin olive oil
chili pepper flakes
1 lb pumpkin
salt
1 c Risotto rice, arborio, canaroli or vialone nano
3 cups boiling water (or broth)
1 cup water
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese.

Clean the leeks and finely slice. Place in pot with extra virgin olive oil, enough to cover the bottom of the pot. Cut the pumpkin into small cubes and let cook with the leek. Salt to taste and sprinkle with chili flakes.

When the leeks are carmelized and the pumpkin tender, about 10 minutes, add the rice. Stir to mix well and "toast" the rice.

Add 2 cups boiling water (or broth). Salt to taste. Cover and let cook for 14 minutes.

Uncover and stir. The rice should be cooked and the liquid absorbed. Add 1 cup of additional boiling water (or broth) and the grated parmesan cheese. Stir until the liquid is absorbed. This will create the perfect creaminess, without adding cream. Stirring releases the starch in the rice and binds with the liquid and cheese to create the PERFECT NON-STIR RISOTTO!

I don't have leeks so I'll just use a yellow onion instead, and I will use some chicken stock instead of plain water. I think I'll grill a couple of sausages or pork chops to go with this for a perfect winter lunch.

Update: remember the other day when I was going to add some pesto to my Tuscan bean soup? I did add the pesto and although it tasted fine, neither of us thought the soup really needed anything else, so next time I won't bother!

LUNCH AND THE ANSWER!

Yes we're back in Italy but still, it's central Italy and it's February, so the weather is nothing to get excited about. So far we've seen the sun peek through for a few minutes each day, and the rest of the time it's been cloudy, dreary and cold! This is the sort of weather that makes me want to turn on the oven and cook up some comfort food.

Today I was inspired by a another blogger, Sandi over at Whistlestop Café Cooking. Her recipe for Lemon Caper Chicken sounded like an interesting way to jazz up boring old chicken breasts, and it seemed like the perfect accompaniment for a lemon risotto recipe I wnated to try.

The only way to get bone in, skin on chicken breasts around here is to buy a whole chicken and cut it up. All I had on hand was boneless, skinless chicken breasts and I think the recipe would have been much better with a bone in breast. Never-the-less, the chicken was good, and the risotto the perfect compliment. Here's the risotto recipe, and for those who think the cream is just too decadent, if you can find Land O' Lakes fat free cream you could save a few calories in the process!

Lemon Risotto

2 shallots
1 rib celery
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/3 cups Arborio rice
Approximately 1 quart vegetable stock
1/2 unwaxed lemon, zested and juiced
Needles from 2 small sprigs fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1 egg yolk
4 tablespoons grated Parmesan, plus more, for garnish
4 tablespoons heavy cream
Freshly ground pepper, preferably white
Salt to taste

Finely chop the shallots and celery. Heat half the butter, the oil and the shallot and celery mixture in a wide saucepan, and cook to soften the mixture for about 5 minutes, making sure it doesn't stick. Mix in the rice, stirring to give it a good coating of oil and butter. Meanwhile, heat the stock in another saucepan and keep it at the simmering point.

Put a ladleful of the stock into the rice and keep stirring until the stock is absorbed. Then add another ladleful and stir again. Continue doing this until the rice is al dente. You may not need all of the stock, equally, you may need to add hot water.

Mix the lemon zest and the rosemary into the risotto, and in a small bowl beat the egg yolk, lemon juice, Parmesan, cream and pepper. When the risotto is ready - when the rice is no longer chalky, but still has some bite - take it off the heat and add the bowl of egg/lemon mixture, and the remaining butter and salt, to taste. Serve with more Parmesan if you wish.

And now, the answer to yesterday's question about the gadget I brought back from the states. Did you know what it is? Here's the picture one more time:




And the answer is.........

It's a handy-dandy spoon-holder that clips on to the edge of a pot! Janie, you were right!