Baked Pumpkin & Buckwheat Risotto

Place the pumpkin on the prepared oven tray. Drizzle with 1/2 the olive oil and season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Bake the pumpkin for 10-15 minutes, or until soft and golden. Remove from the oven.

Place a medium baking dish in the oven to heat up while you prep the risotto. Heat the remaining olive oil in a medium frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the brown onion and zucchini to the pan and cook for 5 minutes, or until softened. Add the garlic and butter and cook for 1 minute, or until fragrant.

Add the buckwheat to the same pan and cook for 1 minute, or until fragrant. Slowly pour the boiling water from the kettle (check the amount needed) into the pan and crumble in the vegetable stock cube. Bring to the boil for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the pan from the heat and transfer the contents of the pan over to your preheated baking dish.

Buckwheat is a not a grain but rather a ‘psuedo-cereal’ that is used in similar ways to rice. It has a sweet, nutty flavour making it the perfect substitute for Arborio rice in hearty and filling risotto style dishes.

Cover the baking dish tightly with foil and transfer to the oven. Cook the risotto for 15-17 minutes, or until the buckwheat has softened completely and the liquid has been absorbed.

Meanwhile, finely grate the Parmesan cheese, finely chop the parsley leaves and roughly chop the walnuts. Stir the baked pumpkin, Parmesan cheese and walnuts through the buckwheat risotto (reserving a little of each for garnish) once the risotto is cooked.