Food glorious food; Risotto with Pumpkin;

Cooking a risotto is easy.

I had some Pumpkin left which had to be used. Generally Risotto does not contain Pumpkin. My ingredients are:

1 Onion diced, small piece of Pumpkin cut in cubes, 1 cup arborio rice (roundcorn rice) 3 cups of water.

Sweat onions and pumpkin in a little olive oil, add 1 cup of rice, add 1teaspoon curry powder and

mix, let it simmer for a couple of minutes. Now add water always a little say a 1/3 of the cup and stir. As soon as the water is soaked up by the rice add more until you have used it all and the rice is soft but still has a little bite to it. Add salt to your taste before it is finished cooking. When the rice is ready to serve add a good handful of cheese. Parmesan or cheddar if you prefer. I do not think this has to be completely authentic because every cook has his or her own recipes. Some use white wine or chicken stock instead of water. You can also use sweet potato instead of pumpkin which is very delicious too.

I cook this rice in a Terracotta pot suitable for the stove top. I cook this dish on low heat from 5 -3 never higher on a Miele cooktop which goes up to 9 .

I serve the risotto with slowly cooked small tomatoes from the garden. They too are cooked in a terracotta pan suitable for the stove top. They too are cooked slowly on low heat 3-4; until they caramelize slightly and smell delicious, then a delectable sauce has accumulated as well.

Ingredients; small tomatoes cut in half, cold pressed virgin olive oil, Thyme and a little garlic. Herb salt and Pepper.

Lettuce from the garden, with a simple dressing of herb salt, white balsamic vinegar and cold pressed Macademia oil.
Campari on the rocks to keep the cook happy!

The finished vegetarian dish. The skin and the seed of the tomatoes are kept and eaten. When you grow your own vegetable you do not throw half of it out. The skin contains many minerals and the seeds as well.

Meat is not essential with this dish.

The English Philosopher and Politician Francis Bacon (1561-1626) was a gourmet, he also liked to experiment with food. Allegedly he caught a bad cold while trying to stuff a chicken with snow and died soon after from the consequences of this cold!!