When the cool weather kicks in the lovely seasonal produce is ready for the picking (and eating!). When it's cool outside it's so nice to tuck into something comforting and a risotto is an excellent choice. It's also super for our gluten free friends who can't indulge in pasta.

The technique and principals of cooking risotto in your CombiSteam oven remain almost exactly the same no matter what type of risotto you want to whip up. You always use the Steam function at 100°C or 100% and it should cook for a total 35 minutes. For around 4 servings I go with 200g of arborio rice to 500ml stock with an extra 100ml or so of white wine. For more, you can up it to 400g of rice to 1L of stock plus extra wine. Of course, like with all cooking and culinary creating, there is an element of personal choice and preference that comes into play. Feel free to adjust accordingly to get it just right for you! I am, after all, the CombiSteam Queen not the CombiSteam dictator!

This is a pumpkin version which uses your Combination or Hot Air+Steaming function first to create that nice roasted flavour and colour on the pumpkin. Hitting the pumpkin with some convection style heat brings out much more sweetness than just steaming it. It also doubles as a way of "sautéing" the onions and garlic for the base all in the oven at the same time. Then we cool down the CombiSteam before we add the rice and stock and continue the cooking using just Steam.  

People sometimes ask why they would cook things in the Combi Steam when they could just use the stove top. The answer here is that we can put in a little easy effort to start the flavours and then sit back and relax whilst our fabulous kitchen investment does the rest. I imagine a glass of something in hand at this point. Just perfect for a lazy Friday night in front of the tellie or when entertaining friends!

In a recipe like this, or sometimes if we're cooking multiple things (think a roast chicken with baked veg and then some steamed green beans or broccoli), we need to change from cooking in a hot convection style heat environment to a moist lower temp envinronment. In CombiSteam speak this is going from your Combination/Hot Air+Steaming function to your Steam only function. When you use the pure Steam function, the oven needs to be cool so that the Steam doesn't evaporate too quickly and cause the food to become dry. When we just Steam alone we want to be able to "see" the moisture in the oven and allow it to cook our food, whether it be steamed veg, steamed seafood or steamed rice.

With many CombiSteams your oven will display the exact and current temperature on the control panel for you. If you plan to use Steam only when your oven is hot and showing a temp of over 50°C you must cool your oven down first. The easiest way to do this is to select your Convection/Fan Forced or Hot Air and set the temp to it's lowest option. Open the door completely and allow the fan to blow the heat out of the oven which will cool it down nice and quickly. You should see the temperature display start to drop almost immediately. As soon as it reaches around 50° you can turn it off and you're ready to use Steam in the cool oven space.

I discovered this the hard way when I first started my CombiSteam cooking journey. I had baked some lovely pastries in the nice hot oven. I took them out of the oven and then immediately changed the setting to Steam at 100°C and added some rice to cook. When my rice came out somewhat crunchy I was a little flummoxed. Later I figured out that adding the rice to the hot oven had dried it out on top before the Steam had a chance to work it's lovely moist and humid magic. Lesson learned! 

Ok so let's get into the recipe.

Maple Roasted Pumpkin Risotto (serves 4 but see tips above for increasing quantity)

Ingredients:
300g diced butternut pumpkin (approx 2cm pieces)
1 tbs real maple syrup*
2 tbs olive oil
1 large brown onion (finely diced)
2 fat cloves of garlic (crushed)
1 tbs grated ginger (fresh preferably)
4 sprigs thyme leaves (or 1 tbs dried thyme)
100 ml white wine
200g arborio rice
500 ml vegetable stock
1/2 cup grated parmesan
50g butter
a few handfuls of fresh rocket  or some freshly chopped parsley or basil to serve

1. Place the pumpkin onto an oven tray lined with baking paper, Drizzle with 1 tsp olive oil and the maple syrup. Toss to coat and combine. Season well with S&P.

2. In a large shallow dish (this will be the one you cook the risotto in) place the onion, ginger, garlic, thyme and the remaining olive oil. Season with S&P.

3. Place the tray into the top of your CombiSteam and add the dish on the rack underneath.

4. Select Combination/Hot Air+Steaming function and set temp to 210 degrees. Allow to cook for 12 minutes.

5. After 12 minutes remove both the tray and the dish. Add the wine to the onion mixture and stir to combine. Set aside.

6. Cool down your CombiSteam before proceeding. (see tips above)

7. Add the rice and stock to the onion mixture and gently mix until just combined. Press any grains down into the liquid to make sure it is all covered.

8. Return the dish to the cooled CombiSteam and select Steam at 100°C or 100%. Cook for 30 minutes.

9. After 30 minutes return the pumpkin to the dish - just adding on top, and continue cooking for another 5 minutes.

10. Remove and stir through the parmesan and butter.

11. Serve seasoned with some extra back pepper (and salt if desired) and topped with rocket or herbs, extra parmesan and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil if you like.

Notes:
*"real" or pure maple syrup is the one that's actually made from the maple tree. It's more expensive that the type that comes in the plastic bottle which is a "fake" flavouring made in a lab using synthetic flavours and loads of sugar to try to create the same thing. Go the real version in the glass bottle - it's well worth it!
*make sure your risotto dish is nice and large - the rice, once added shouldn't be any deeper than your middle knuckle if you dip your finger in - the dish should also be flat bottomed for even cooking.

This is a lovely "starter" for a cool weather dinner party. The leftovers also make great Arancini  which you can shape from the cold risotto, dip in egg and roll in breadcrumbs, then spray well with olive oil and bake until golden brown on a tray lined with baking paper using Combination/Hot Air Steaming preheated to 230°C. It will take around 15 minutes but keep your eye on them to get them just as you like them. I love them served with some aioli or a nice chutney and a green salad.

Get cooking my loyal ones! I know you will love this one.

Remember to check out all my printables, cheat sheets and recipe books here for some extra content to extend your skills and confidence and sign up to my Royal Mail on the Meet The CSQ page to receive all my new recipes (and more!) directly to your mail box.

Happy CombiSteaming!

Yours in the kitchen,

The CSQ x