Pumpkin, Swiss Brown Mushroom & Roast Hazelnut Risotto

Risotto is one of those foods that even when you're full, you wish your bowl would never end... an ultimate Winter comfort food with so many options, it's easy to make a winning risotto dish from random veggies lying around and impress all your friends.

I had some left over hazelnuts and a pumpkin from the farmers market so I ended up with this! The pumpkin really made it - so make sure you use one that is small and not stringy. It gives a lovely sweet flavour and beautiful rich colour, as well as being packed with carotenoids and fibre! I tend to make my food up as I go and rarely measure, so the measurements here are a bit of a guess... Sorry! 

The key to a good risotto is to ensure your rice is aldente (cooked through but with a little resistance) and is a little loose in the liquid, or else you will end up with dry mush. The stock also strongly affects the flavour, so make your own if you can, or try and go for a fresh one with no MSG or artificial flavours.

Ingredients:

• 1 small grey or Japanese pumpkin (possibly 800g) skinned and chopped into 1cm cubes
• Rice bran oil
• Pinch of cinnamon
• Two good handfuls of hazelnuts, roughly chopped
• A cup or two of swiss brown mushrooms, chopped thickly
• Fresh thyme
• Fresh vegetable stock (about 1-1.5L)
• Dry white wine
• 2 cups Arborio rice
• 1 brown onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed or finely chopped
• Fresh rosemary
• 1 bunch fresh English spinach
• Parmesan cheese, finely grated
• Cracked black pepper
• Sea Salt

Method:

1. Toss pumpkin cubes in 1 tablespoon of the rice bran oil on a baking dish and scatter over 1 tablespoon of chopped rosemary and a pinch of sea salt, then sprinkle lightly with cinnamon. Roast in hot oven until tender (about 20mins). Transfer half the pumpkin to a bowl and mash well.
2. Dry roast the hazelnuts in a frypan on medium/high heat. Move often and be careful not to burn. Once they brown slightly and smell fragrant, remove from heat and allow to cool.
3. Cook mushrooms in a little rice bran oil with the fresh thyme until tender. Set aside.
4. Warm stock in a saucepan on low heat. 
5. Sautee onion with the rosemary in a large heavy-based pot on medium heat with a little rice bran oil. Add garlic and rice and cook for a minute or two, stirring well. Add a good splash of white wine (about a cup, perhaps a little more) and let it cook right down. Turn the heat down to a low simmer and add stock by the ladleful (keeping it on low heat), allowing the rice to absorb it before adding more. Keep the rice moving and don't let it stick to the bottom of the pot. I like to add a good amount of cracked black pepper here so it can infuse through.
6. When the rice is aldente, stir through the mashed pumpkin, spinach, mushrooms and a good handful of parmesan cheese. Season to taste with sea salt. 
7. Plate up and top each serve with the extra diced pumpkin, roasted hazelnuts, parmesan cheese and a little more cracked black pepper. I also like to add a little chopped fresh parsley and toasted pumpkin seeds. Serve with a fresh green salad, a glass of wine and enjoy!

xT

Know your food!

I love food. I love the smells, tastes and preparation involved in cooking, but most of all the satisfaction of creating good food that is good for our health. I love sourcing fresh ingredients, meeting producers and learning where our food comes from. And I love my home. I'm so lucky to live in beautiful little Hobart; a city buzzing with delicious eateries, amazing local produce and good coffee.

I guess I've always been a bit of a foodie, thanks to my parents' encouragement to cook and help in the kitchen and to certain celebrity chefs that I (secretly) preferred to watch after school over cartoons or soaps. But I think its also in my blood - I'm lucky to have grown up in a family rich in culture who all have a passion for delicious, wholesome food. 

My grandmother on my mother's side grew up on a farm in northern Japan and helped her mother plant, grow and prepare food all year round. They had no fridge so they prepared and ate as they needed, staggered the planting of their vegetables so they would last, pickled and preserved food to feed them through winter and swapped produce with neighbours so they all had a bit of everything. 

As much as I romanticise about this way of living off the land, it is in reality incredibly hard work and an entire way of life. With modern lifestyles and fast paced environments, most of us in the Western world have small living spaces, work long hours and no longer live from our garden's bounty and fattened backyard pigs. Whilst we are lucky to have more freedom and comfort, we are also surrounded by constant temptations and marketing ploys - cheap restaurants, drive-through takeaway joints and supermarkets filled with food containing numbers for ingredients. The bombardment of advertising, health fads and 'magical' diets that usually focus on overtly sexual and 'perfected' body shapes makes many of us question ourselves and how we should actually behave in relation to our food.

Because of this, many people have negative experiences and associations to food and can be far removed from where our food comes from or what is actually in it. So much choice, ease of living and access to all sorts of food from around the globe can be incredibly overwhelming and make it difficult to know where to start.

That is why understanding and appreciating where the food you eat has come from and cooking from scratch is so fantastic - it gives you ownership over your food and greater satisfaction. This also goes for growing your own food, no matter how little - it is amazing how rewarding it feels to simply grow your own parsley in a pot! And for those who don't think they can cook, don't be scared of messing up or making mistakes (trust me, I have made plenty) - the more you cook, the more confident you get in the kitchen and the easier it becomes.

As a nutritionist, I am passionate about feeding our bodies with wholesome, real food that prevents disease and enhances our quality of life. I believe its never too late to spin around bad habits and attitudes and learn how to cook, love what you eat and love your body. It may take time, but we do have a choice on what we eat and eating wholesome foods doesn't need to be expensive, as many people believe. 

So go and get inspired! Buy a cookbook, visit the farmer's markets, talk to producers, try a new vegetable, watch a cooking show, plant some herbs, invite a friend over, buy a good knife or if it all seems too much, ask for help!

xT