Prawn Risotto with Pumpkin and Bacon Pangrattato

This recipe is a combination of the ocean and Earth. Prawn risotto is a classic, particularly in seaside villages where seafood is plentiful. I’ve added the earthiness of pumpkin, it really enhances the sweetness of the prawns, and bacon which gives a salty meatiness that makes this dish sing.

Pangrattato is just toasted flavoured breadcrumbs (literally translating to ‘grated bread’). Originating from peasants who couldn’t afford parmesan cheese, they used stale bread as their ‘poor man’s parmesan’ – known as pangrattato. I’ve added bacon which really does take this to another level. It keeps well, sealed and refrigerated, ready to sprinkle on a myriad of things from risotto, pasta to roast vegetables.

This risotto also defies the Italian convention that parmesan should never be served with seafood, but the only rule I go by is taste.  I think the risotto benefits from the addition of parmesan at the end to give that distinct creaminess.

There are a few elements to this recipe, first you roast the pumpkin, then make the Bacon Pangrattato, then cook the prawns before cooking the risotto.  Then it’s just a matter of combing everything together at the end, so there’s no juggling everything at once. It’s a simple step by step method that makes cooking something special very easy.

This risotto has it all, creaminess, sweetness, saltiness and crunch in every mouthful.

Prawn Risotto with Pumpkin and Bacon Pangrattato

Creamy, sweet, earthy and salty. This is a real Ocean and Earth combination that works.

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Servings: 4

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 500 g Butternut pumpkin, peeled and diced
• olive oil
• salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 L chicken stock
• 3 bacon rashers, finely sliced
• 4 - 5 thick pieces 'day-old' bread (ciabatta or sourdough or similar)
• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
• 300 g large uncooked prawns, peeled and de-veined
• 1 L chicken stock
• 1 brown onion, peeled and finely diced
• 1 celery stick, finely diced
• 2 cups Arborio rice
• ⅔ cup white wine
• 2 tbsp butter
• ¼ cup parmesan cheese, grated

Method

 

Roast the Pumpkin

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Line an oven tray with baking paper and add the pumpkin. Add a splash of olive oil, a little salt and a grind of black pepper. Toss to coat and bake for 30–40 minutes, turning every now and then, until pumpkin is tender and starting to get crisp on the edges. Set aside

Make the Pangrattato

1. Add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil to a frying pan and cook the bacon until crisp, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
2. Rip the bread into small chunks and place in the bowl of a food processor with 1 of the garlic cloves. Pulse until rough breadcrumbs are formed.
3. Splash a little olive oil back into the pan you cooked the bacon and toss the breadcrumb mix into it with the cooked bacon. Stir until bread is golden. Set aside.

Cook the Prawns

1. In a large sauté pan, heat 2 tbsp olive oil and add the prawns. Cook until just cooked, about 2 minutes each side. Remove and set aside.

Make the Risotto

1. Put the chicken stock in a saucepan to heat. Keep on a simmer.
2. Add another small splash of olive oil to the pan and add the onion and celery. Cook for 4–5 minutes, or until the onion is translucent.
3. Add the remaining garlic and cook for another minute, then add the rice and stir to coat the grains in the oil, for around 1 minute.
4. Add the wine and stir until the liquid to be absorbed.
5. Add a cupful of hot stock and stir over medium heat until the liquid is absorbed. Keep doing this for around 20 minutes, adding a ladle at a time and allowing the liquid to absorb each time, or until the rice is just cooked. You may not need all the stock; you want the risotto to be fluid, not dry.
6. Remove from the heat, add the butter and Parmesan cheese and mix in with a wooden spoon. This helps the risotto get nice and creamy.
7. Taste and add salt and pepper if needed.
8. Now gently fold in the cooked pumpkin and prawns. Allow to warm through, no more than 20 seconds.
9. Immediately spoon into plates and top with the pangrattato.

Recipe from my book Easy Home Cooking Italian Style – New Holland Publishers . Images – Jonathan VDK