Pumpkin Risotto with Brown Butter Recipe
This Brown Butter Pumpkin Risotto is made with fresh sage, smoky peppers and earthy Porcini mushrooms. Full of incredibly delicious flavor, this pumpkin risotto is undeniably rich and comforting -- perfect for the fall season!Serves six as a first course OR Serves four generous entrée portions
Ingredients
- 2 cups water
- ½ ounce (about 2) dried chipotle chile peppers
- ½ ounce dried Porcini mushrooms
- about 4 cups vegetable stock or broth (if broth, try to get low-sodium)
- ⅓ cup unsalted butter divided
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup yellow onion, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1½ cups Arborio rice
- ½ cup pumpkin purée
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Hydrate the mushrooms and peppers. Pour the water into a small sauce pot and bring it to a boil. Add the dried chipotle chile peppers and dried Porcini mushrooms, turn the heat to low, cover and simmer for about 45 minutes. Turn off the heat, keep the pot covered and let the peppers steep for about 1 hour.
- Chop the mushrooms and peppers. SAVING the liquid in the pot, use a slotted spoon to remove the peppers and mushrooms. Take off the stems of the peppers and then slice them in half lengthwise. Use the back of a small knife or a teaspoon to gently scrape out seeds and membranes. Now chop the peppers and mushrooms as finely as possible -- you should have about ½ cup. Set aside.
- Heat the stock (or broth) with the pepper-mushroom liquid. Pour the mushroom/pepper liquid and the stock or broth into a large pot and turn the heat to low. Once it's warm, turn off the heat and keep it on the stove.
- Brown the butter. Add the butter to a large sauté pan (about 12 to 14 inches). Turn the heat to low-medium and melt it. Once it's melted it will begin to foam and sizzle around the edges. Stir every so often, and within about 4 minutes or so, the butter will become toasty brown color and smell nutty. Remove about half of it with a tablespoon and add it to a small bowl -- this portion will be added later.
- Sauté the onions, cloves and sage. Still over low-medium heat, add the onions to the browned butter and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Then add the sage and cloves and cook until it's very aromatic, about 30 seconds.
- Add the rice. Pour in the rice and stir. Cook for about 1 minute, being sure that all of the grains are well coated with the butter and onion mixture.
- Add the other ingredients and cook. Mix in the finely chopped peppers and mushrooms, followed by about 1½ cups of the warmed stock mixture and the pumpkin purée. Keeping the heat at medium-low, gently simmer the rice. With near-constant stirring, continue to add about 1 cup of the liquid as each previous cup is absorbed. You know you're ready to add the next cup as soon as you use a spatula to make an open area in the pan, and no liquid seeps into it.As the rice absorbs more and more of the liquid, it will gradually become creamy. Keep adding the liquid until the rice is al dente. (This means "to the tooth." While the rice will be tender, there will still a bite to it.) When it's at this point, most, if not all, of the liquid will have been used.
- Add remaining brown butter, season, and serve. Add the remaining half of the brown butter and mix just to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve immediately.
NOTES
Calorie count is only an estimate.
NUTRITION
Calories: 352kcal
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