Creamy risotto with raw ham and chopped pumpkin

Method

1. Heat 40 g of extra virgin olive oil in a frying pan and add the chopped pumpkin.
2. Fry quickly over a high heat for 3 or 4 minutes without letting it brown too much. Set aside.
3. Brown the bone marrow in a saucepan over a high heat.
4. Add the onion and leave to cook for 5 minutes.
5. Add the rice, stir well until it is coated and starts to brown nicely, stirring carefully.
6. Pour over the white wine and allow to reduce.
7. Continue cooking for 12 minutes, gradually adding the boiling hot stock.
8. Beat to a creamy consistency adding the chopped pumpkin and bits of ham.
9. Finish off cooking the rice, add the butter and adjust seasoning.
10. Arrange the ham slices on the bottom of the plates, pour the rice over them, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and ground pepper. Serve piping hot.

Chef's tip

If you want to turn this recipe vegetarian, just leave out the ham and bone marrow, replacing the latter with a knob of butter or more extra virgin olive oil.

Serving suggestion

Serve with vegetable side-dishes or meat-based main courses.

Wine selection

Vernaccia di San Gimignano, Bardolino DOC, Friulano Friuli Aquileia DOC Superiore, Pinot Grigio Valdadige or Chardonnay.

Family tip

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Dish history

Pumpkin risotto is a well-known dish in traditional Lombard cuisine. Very easy to make and incredibly tasty at the same time, it makes an ideal dish for cold autumn or winter days. Its origins are, as the majority of the courses prepared with pumpkin, humble ones, as this vegetable was cultivated and eaten mostly by peasants. In this version we decided to enrich the recipe a bit by adding another much-loved ingredient of the northern culinary tradition: raw ham.