Originally published on October 21, 2001 by former Taste contributor Greg Atkinson  

Choose a day when you can feel the air clearly cold. It is best if the sun is shining and the leaves turn red, golden or even brown. Find yourself a green kabocha squash before 11 in the morning so you can prepare pumpkin risotto for lunch in time.

Kabocha means pumpkin in Japanese. Maybe you have never noticed it before, but your local grocery store probably has one of them. It may be located under the produce shelf in the basket on the floor. It may be at the farmers’ market, or in your neighbor’s backyard. Someone is waiting for you somewhere. 

If you already have another kind of butternut squash or pumpkin, please take a look at it. Maybe it can pretend to be kabocha long enough for you to make risotto. Buttercup squash and the so-called "Sweet Mama" squash are almost the same as kabocha; they will do it. Hard, dense sugar squash, red kuri squash and golden nugget squash are also available. Butternut squash is okay if it doesn't want to be a walnut. But watery, sticky or thin-skinned pumpkins are outdated. 

Once you have a squash ball, think about what it's like not to leave school on an autumn day, when the house is quiet, light is pouring in, and you have all your thoughts. Think about your grandmother. If you don't remember her, think about me. She even wears a skirt on weekdays. She wears pointed glasses and prefers fitting shoes that won't hurt the bunion. She laughed a lot, but she usually tried to hide it and acted very directly, so we will take her seriously. She made what she likes to eat in the kitchen, and if you are conscious enough to know what is good, you will also like it. 

When remembering, place the pumpkin on a solid wood cutting board on a sturdy counter; use your biggest knife to approach the most serious expression. The skin of these pumpkins is as hard as life, and you have to cut it open. Cut it in half. If you feel strong and the squash looks soft, push it a bit more and cut it in half. If you feel weak or timid, and the knife is deeply embedded in the pumpkin like a sword in a stone, pick them up together and beat them hard to cut the pumpkin in half; then you will feel stronger. 

Once you cut the pumpkin in half, the rest is easy. Turn the cut side down so that things are stable, and then cut half of the pumpkin into two halves to make two quarters. Don't worry about another half pumpkin now; you don't need it. Scoop out the dirty middle part with a spoon, then cut off the skin of the pumpkin again with a knife, and cut the peeled and seeded meat into 1-inch cubes, or as close as possible to the cube shape. You should have a lot of 2 cups of diced pumpkin. 

Measure yourself a cup of rice. Now, forget what Marcella Hazan and Lynne Rossetto Kasper said. They don't know who you are or where you live, and you don't need Arborio or Carnaroli rice. Use ordinary short grain rice from Japan. If you want, you can use the kind from Louisiana or California, but I like pure white, unwashed pearl-like grains from Asia. I like to imagine me looking down on the Pacific Ocean from a high place on the earth: I'm on one side, lifting my rice in a salute, and Asia is on the other side, and the sun barely rises. Behind me is Italy, where The sun has set. 

Now light up the two burners, put a small saucepan in the back, and a nice thick-bottomed 3-quart saucepan in the front. I have an enameled iron pan with a slanted side and it works well. Put a pot of chicken broth and half a pot of water in the back pot; don’t put anything in the front. Instead, cut half a large onion when the pan is hot. Now put a tablespoon of oil and a tablespoon of butter in the front pan. The butter will sizzle and melt in the oil. Fry the onion until tender. Peel a few cloves of garlic and cut into thin slices; add them to the onion. 

Add the diced pumpkin and stir for a minute or two to heat it up. Add the rice and stir for a few minutes until the rice is translucent. Think about translucency. Think of light passing through the middle without coming out the other side. Where did it go? 

Stir in half a glass of white wine. If there is no wine, add half a cup of apple juice and stir. No one will know. When the wine sizzles, boils, and evaporates, add half a cup of hot soup from the back oven. And continue to stir until the rice needs more liquid, until the pan starts to sizzle every time you stir, and the risotto sounds like it is going to be fried again. Turn the heat down a bit, add half a cup of broth, and think about the salad you want to eat with risotto. 

Whether it's lettuce or spinach, just add three tablespoons of olive oil and one tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, plus salt and pepper. If you want, you can think of my grandmother's great-grandfather. Desiderio Chini came here from Bologna, Italy in 1809. Think he must miss his home, the food there, and the balsamic vinegar that his mother put in the bucket on the house's rafters. Think about how he missed the Parmigiano-Reggiano, which was rubbed with crushed grape seeds and ashes in his time, so the 40-pound wheels were piled black in the open-air market. 

Secretly take a break from the constant stirring, grind up some Regiano, and think about how my old Italian ancestor missed the rhythm of his own language in his mother's kitchen. In 1813, he married Margarita Bauve, a 25-year-old woman from New Orleans, and lived with her until her death in 1830. She was 42 years old at that time and will live to be 75 years old. 

After 10 or 15 minutes, the pumpkin pieces will soften and their corners will disappear. The rice will expand and the broth will become as smooth as cream. Continue to add broth according to the needs of the rice. 

When the last bite of the broth is almost absorbed, add a handful of grated Regiano and ask everyone who eats with you to come immediately. There is a moment when risotto is at its peak, and it must not be allowed to pass. If the cheese makes the grains look flat, add another tablespoon of butter to make them glow, and then ask others to throw away the salad. When you scoop risotto into a shallow bowl, light will flicker from its surface. 

Pumpkin risotto 4 1 tbsp olive oil 1 tbsp butter 1 cup chopped onion 3 or 4 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced ​​2 cups diced kabocha or other thick sweet pumpkin 1 cup short grain rice ½ cup white Wine 3 cups light chicken broth, piping hot ½ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese 1 tablespoon butter, optional 

1. In a large saucepan, heat olive oil and butter over medium high heat. Fry the onion slightly, then add the garlic. Stir in the diced pumpkin and cook until the pumpkin is hot and begins to brown. Stir in the rice and cook for 1 minute, or until the rice is translucent. 

2. Pour the wine. After boiling, add ½ cup of chicken broth. Stir until the broth is absorbed, then add another ½ cup of broth. Keep stirring and slowly add the broth for 20 minutes, or until the rice and pumpkin are soft. 

3. After adding the last bite of broth, add the cheese and, if necessary, an extra tablespoon of butter. Serve the risotto while it is hot, and then a vegetable salad. 

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