Pumpkin risotto is a great classic of northern Italian cuisine, it’s easy, accessible and it leaves the door open for countless flavour combinations.

It goes well simply with butter and fried sage, with gorgonzola cheese and toasted nuts, with sausages and rosemary and even with coffee powder and smoked cheese. However, what you might not know is that a classic combination is also with little Italian almond cookies called ‘amaretti’ and a spicy mustardy fruit preserve called ‘mostarda di frutta’.

To Make the Risotto

First bake the pumpkin. You don’t need a whole pumpkin to make this, even just pieces or slices will be fine. Make sure the pumpkin is sliced into uniform pieces to ensure even baking time and then dress lightly with salt and pepper and a little of oil. Cover with parchment and simply bake at 160/170 until fully cooked through. Let it cool slightly and blitz it into a puree. Make sure you check the seasoning.

Now let’s move onto the risotto making. In a large casserole dish gently fry the chopped shallots with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, the bayleaf and a pinch of salt for about 5/7 minutes on low heat until lightly golden. Now add the rice and toast on low heat for about 5 more minutes until translucent. Keep stirring the rice, so that it doesn’t catch on the bottom of the pan or burn. When the rice is very hot, pour the wine in. Let the alcohol evaporate, set the cooking time to 17 minutes and then add simmering stock a ladle at a time, little by little. Stir the rice occasionally, and keep cooking.

When there are about 3 minutes left, start adding the pumpkin puree to the rice. Add as much as you like to increase the creaminess of the risotto and the pumpkin flavour. At this stage also be mindful and add stock carefully only if needed, you don’t want the risotto to be cooked and still have too much liquid in it.

When the time is up and you are happy with the texture of the rice, remove it from the heat and start the “mantecatura” – making the risotto creamy.

Stir in the grated cheese, the mustard and the cold butter and mix well until creamy and uniform and add a ladle of stock or hot water if it looks too firm. The movements will help the butter and cheese to emulsify with your risotto liquids and give you an even creamier result. Season to taste.

Plate the hot risotto and top with the crushed amaretti cookies and serve straight away.