PUMPKIN AND PINE NUT RISOTTO

Recipe: Sarah Hobbs Photo: Steve Brown Serves: 4

500g butternut pumpkin, peeled, deseeded, cut into 3cm cubes

2 tablespoons olive oil

¼cup pine nuts

1 litre chicken or vegetable stock

⅓cup sage leaves

1 onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1½ cups arborio rice

½cup dry white wine

½cup finely grated parmesan

¼cup mascarpone

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Arrange the pumpkin over a bakingpaper-lined oven tray and drizzle with half the oil. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown and tender. Scatter the pine nuts over the pumpkin and bake for a further 2 minutes or until toasted. Remove from the oven.

Meanwhile, bring the stock to the boil in a saucepan over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and keep at a gentle simmer.

Heat the remaining oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the sage leaves, in batches, and fry for 1 minute or until crisp. Transfer to a plate.

Add the onion and garlic to the pan and fry, stirring, for 5 minutes or until softened. Add the rice and stir for 1 minute or until translucent. Add the wine and cook, stirring constantly, until completely absorbed. Add a ladleful of hot stock and stir until completely absorbed. Continue to add the stock, a ladle at a time, stirring constantly and allowing the liquid to be absorbed before adding the next ladle.

Cook for 20 minutes or until the risotto is tender yet firm to the bite and creamy. Remove from the heat. Add half the pumpkin to the risotto and lightly crush it with the back of a spoon. Add the remaining pumpkin and stir gently to combine.

Stir in the pine nuts, parmesan, mascarpone and half the sage. Taste and season.

Spoon the risotto into bowls then top with the remaining sage and serve.