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arborio rice, cider, easy pumpkin recipes, halloween, Halloween Risotto, Independent newspaper, pancetta, Pumpkin recipes, pumpkin risotto, RHS Garden Wisley, roast pumpkin recipes, www.surreyKitchen.com
A Halloween-night meal can be as simple you want it to be. A party for all ages without the pressure and headache of big name holidays. Since pumpkin can be served savoury or sweet, Halloween is the perfect time to add this seasonal squash to your menu.
Today the Independent reported that 18,000 tons of perfectly edible squash will be tipped straight into the bin following Halloween celebrations in the UK. This is the same weight as 1,500 double-decker buses.
British people are much more likely to throw away leftover pumpkins than their American counterparts who will turn them into soups, pies and tarts this Halloween. I have an American friend living in the U.K who even makes her own pumpkin butter.
The Pumpkin rescue campaign is urging British households to help prevent food waste this Halloween. To help reduce food waste this year why not try my mouth-watering Halloween risotto. A simple yet stylish dish that the whole family can enjoy.
To get the best out of this recipe you may want to opt for roasting a sweet, dense-fleshed squash like Crown Prince or Onion squash rather than the traditional Jack-O’-Lantern variety.
Serves 4-6 people
Time: 10 mins (prep)/ 60 mins (cooking)
Ingredients
1 medium-sized Pumpkin or squash
Olive oil
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 red onion finely chopped
4-6 mushrooms diced
200g pancetta
250ml cider, plus a splash or two
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to season
1 apple, peeled and finely diced
200g arborio rice
1ltr chicken stock/vegetable stock
12-14 sage leaves chopped
A good tbsp scoop of mascarpone
A handful of Parmesan
Preparation Method:
1) Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas 6.
2) Carefully cut the top off your squash/pumpkin and remove the seeds. Season with sea salt and pepper inside and add a splash of cider to the centre. Roast in the oven for 1 hour or until tender.
3) Heat a glug of olive oil in a large risotto pan or pot. Fry the garlic, onion and apple until tender.
4) Add the pancetta and the mushrooms and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
5) Add the arborio rice and a splash of cider. Then add your stock a little at a time, allowing the rice to soak up the first ladle before adding the second. Repeat this process for twenty minutes.
6) Mix in the sage leaves.
7) Remove pumpkin from oven and stand to cool for 2-3 minutes. Scoop out the flesh and mix into the risotto.
8) Add the mascarpone and parmesan and swirl through the risotto.

Happy Halloween from Miles and the team at http://www.surreyKitchen.com.
Oh yum! We will have to try this sometime. I myself have been cooking/baking with plenty of pumpkins already. I try to do my share in using pumpkins, okay, so maybe we just LOVE everything pumpkin. Happy Halloween!
Thats good to hear. Hoping some of your pumpkin baking goodies will appear on your blog soon. Wishing your family a very Happy Halloween. Emma xx
Sounds delicious ! I LOVE pumpkin !
It is delicious. You should give the recipe a try!
It’s saddening to read of so much food waste. Your risotto sounds delicious. Happy Halloween to you both and, of course, to Miles. 😉
Happy Halloween to you too. The risotto is delicious. You should give it a go this Autumn. Emma xx
Mmmm… this delicious dish is being added to my “things to cook” bookmark right now! I love pumpkin for the same reason you mentioned- it can be either savory or sweet. I don’t have nearly enough savory recipes so I’m looking forward to this one 🙂
Hi Heather, You look stunning in your wedding dress in your new thumbnail picture. I hope you both had a wonderful day. The risotto is delicious so I am glad you have added the recipe to your ‘things to cook’ list. Take care and Happy Halloween. Emma xx
Beautiful risotto Emma! It’s a great alternative use for pumpkin and one I should definitely try 🙂 Oh I just feel so sad when I think of all the pumpkins in the shops and households that are going to waste … half the fun of having one is the challenge of using it in as many dishes as possible but it’s true that millions of others don’t share this mindset and would rather chuck it than deal with it 😦 We need to start a Save the Pumpkin campaign! I bought one a week ago and have munched on the flesh + seeds – and if I could eat the skin I would!
It is sad about all the food waste at Halloween. I had never really thought about it before until I read the article in the Independent. Americans are much better at cooking with leftover pumpkin. We’ll have to start a UK Pumpkin campaign through our food blogs. Take care and a very happy Halloween to you. Emma xx
Oh my god. marscapone and cheese! that is one gorgeous risotto!!! It’s definitely a shame to waste any squash!
The risotto is delicious. You should definitely give it a try this Autumn. Happy Halloween Mimi. Emma xx
Your pumpkin risotto looks wonderful, I have to try it when I’m home again. It’s sad to see all the food wasted around the world. Thank you for bringing up this issue in your post.
I am extremely frugal so hate any form of waste – just imagine how many mouths all that thrown away pumpkin could feed.
LOVE your risotto – can almost taste how scrumity it must be.
Have a wonderful evening Emma and give Miles a cuddle from me.
🙂 Mandy xo
I’m making this tonight btw !!
How neat! This is what I’ll be doing with my leftover pumpkin creation this year…thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
Let me know how you get on with the recipe. It’s lovely to get feedback about the recipes I have written. Happy Halloween. Emma.
Made it ! It was lovely …..thank you🎃
It is so lovely to get feedback from people who have taken the time to try out one of my recipes. I’m glad you enjoyed it. Wishing you and your family a very Happy Halloween. Take care. Emma.
I’ll give this a try but I fear it will be a slight disaster for me… thanks for sharing
You’re a writer you can do anything. Go for it!
Thanks Emma (o:
This really does sound yummy,the combination of the pancetta,cider and pumpkin is brilliant thinking,I have always thought that some chefs make risotto out to be much harder to cook than it really is,I love the simplicity of this one.