Festive pumpkin risotto with pomegranate seeds and feta crumbs is the perfect recipe when you are looking for a special vegetarian Christmas dinner idea or maybe that perfect Thanksgiving side. It’s easy to make and very creamy and decadent. Its the best risotto you will ever taste and your guests will be impressed immensely by the beautiful presentation. I just say holiday main course .
Since it’s already the end of November and enough cold outside that I can pretend that Christmas is around the corner, I’m looking for that perfect recipe which could impress my people during the holidays.
I’m pinteresting a looot. But nothing would inspire me and I’m just out of ideas. Nothing speaks to my foodie soul. It’s all just a big uninterested mess. I want to scream in my pillow for being angry with myself and my big uncreative blocked mind. Do you know that state when you have to come up with a glorious idea but nothing will come to your mind? Well, that state is awful 😉 .
Festive Pumpkin Risotto with pomegranate seeds- a vision for that single perfect evening
Thank God these kind of creative block won’t last and after a fitful night “THE” perfect Christmas Dinner Idea came to my mind. Imagine you have a bunch of different people at your Christmas Dinner table. Some are vegetarians but most of them are your “we-eat-everything-as-long-as-it-is-impressive” kind of people.
I enter the room with a beautiful tray full of gorgeous baked squash halves. But that’s not the end. Nooooo!!! Those delicious halves are filled with the most delightful and creamiest pumpkin risotto your guests will ever have tasted. The risotto is a delicious dream of perfectly cooked rice – Al dente of course! A Rich creaminess, a light buttery flavour, a hint of parmesan, the nutty flavour of the pumpkin and the spicy roasted pumpkin seeds and , to top that firework of flavour, the tangy sweet taste of pomegranate seeds. BAM!!!! Now if that’s not the highest level of culinary easy creativity I don’t know anything anymore.
What is Important to get that special Christmas dinner or Festive Side done right
Here are some tips for you to get everything done on time and without greater disturbances or accidents.
- I recommend to use acorn squash or hokkaido for the risotto. They are great in taste.
- The acorn squash has a very hard skin, so please be careful when cutting them in half.
- whole out the squash until the edge is about 2 cm thick.
- The pulled out pumpkin meat needs to be free of the seeds.
- Reserve everything of the meat for the risotto.
- I start first with the baked pumpkin, the spicy roasted pumpkin seeds and the caramelised pumpkin seeds.
level the bottom 
whole the squash halves out until 2 cm thick 
bake with the cut side down
Almost done here, promised 😉 !
- When I start to cook my festive Pumpkin Risotto with pomegranate seeds, it’s Important that I stay with it most of the time. It gets easily burned.
- All the Ingredients need to be prepared in advance and in hand reach.
- Cook on low heat.
- I don’t add all of the soup at once. I add some of the soup and let it get soaked by the risotto and then I add some more soup and let it get soaked again and so on.
- Yes you definitely need all that butter, cream and parmesan cheese. Be my guest to add more cheese if you feel like it.
- The vegetable soup is an about thing. Maybe your risotto rice brand will need more or less soup then I wrote in my recipe. When the rice is AL DENTE, the Risotto is ready for the finishing.
- Don’t forget those Pomegranate seeds. They take that risotto from an local hero to world rock legend.
- Its about half a pomegranate you will need. Make a flavoured water with the rest of the seeds for example.
I add the pumpkin meat when I add the soup for the second time. 
cut the scraped out meat into small chunks 
spicy caramelised pumpkin seeds
A perfect add on if you want that vegetarian Christmas recipe to be NON-Vegetarian 😉
The perfect add on ,in my opinion, are some fresh tiger prawns grilled in a pan with some butter, salt, some smashed garlic for the taste and some added vermouth. Nothing can beat that 😉
I truly hope that you’ll enjoy that delicious and festive vegetarian pumpkin risotto with pomegranate seeds, feta crumbs and spicy pumpkin seeds as much as my family and I did. It’s a dish which should be enjoyed with good friends and family and a cold drink <3
Comforting warm hugs
Nina
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Festive vegetarian pumpkin risotto with pomegranate seeds and feta crumbs
Course: christmas main course, holiday main course, Main Course, Side DishCuisine: Italian4
20
minutes30
minutes998
kcalThis is a delicious and festive recipe for a creamy and flavourful pumpkin risotto with pomegranate seeds and feta served in baked pumpkin halves. Its the perfect vegetarian main dish recipe for a special evening like christmas or a perfect side for thangskiving.
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Ingredients
- Baked pumpkin halves
2 900g 2 hokkaido or acorn squash cut in halve and wholed out so that the pumpkin walls are only 1,5 cm thick
2 tbsp 2 olive oi
2 tsp 2 salt
- spicy roasted pumpkin seeds
75 g 75 crushed pumpkin seeds
1/2 tsp 1/2 salt
1/4 tsp 1/4 chili flakes
- Spicy caramelized pumpkin seeds
1 tbsp 1 brown sugar
- Pumpkin risotto
150 g 150 shalots minced
350 g 350 risotto rice
2 tbsp 2 olive oil
100 ml 100 white wine
1,1 litre 1,1 vegetable stock maybe a little more or less depending on the rice
1/4 tsp 1/4 dried chili flakes
50 g 50 butter
200 ml 200 cream
1/4 tsp 1/4 ground nutmeg
100 g 100 parmesan cheese grated
50 g 50 feta cheese grumbs
5 tbsp 5 pomegranate seeds should be about 1/2 a pomegranate
Directions
- Baked Pumpkin Halves
- Preheat the oven to 190°celsius or 390° Fahrenheit.Level the bottom and the top of every pumpkin. So that the pumpkin halves wont roll off your plate later on.Cut the pumpkins in half and ged rid of the seeds.Whole out the pumpkins until the edged are 2cm thick.IMPORTANT: Keep the wholed out pumpkin meat for the risotto.Coat the oumokin halves inside and outside with olive oil and salt gerously.Bake with cut side down on a baking sheet for 20 minutes.Let cool before turning them.
- Spicy Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
- Mix all ingredients together and roast the seeds on medium high heat under constant stiring for about 8 minutes or until they start to smell. Mix 2/3 of the mixture under the ready to eat risotto. Reserve 1/3 for the caramelizing
- Spicy Caramelized Pumpkin Seeds
- Mix the rest of the already roasted pumpkin seeds with the sugar and caramelize it for about 5-8 minutes.Spread everything onto a baking sheet and let cool completely.
- Creamy Pumpkin Risotto
- Start with cooking the minced shalots without coloring in some olive oil for about 5 minutes until they are tender. Medium to low heat.Add the risotto rice and fry for another 5 mintues under constant stirring.Rice wil start to release his flavour and start to smell. Add the white wine and stir until the alcohol is vaporized and the rice has soaked up the liquid.Add 300ml vegetable stock to the rice and let it cook until the liquid is almost gone.Important: During the cooking you have to stay with the risotto and stir it every so often. The risotto gets burned fast.Add the next 300 ml of vegetable stock and the minced wholed out pumpkin meat.Stir everything and let the liquid get soaked up.Repeat the process of adding soup until the rice is al Dente. Means firm to the bite.Add the butter, cream, grated parmesan and roasted pumpkin seeds and mix everything thorougly.Season with some more salt and ground nutmeg.Mix about 4 tbsp of the pomagranate seeds under the risotto.Fill the risotto into the baked pumpkin halves and top with some more pomegranate seeds, the feta grumbs and the spicy caramelized pumpkin seeds.
Nutrition Facts
- Calories: 998kcal
- Carbohydrates: 85g
- Protein: 24g
- Fat: 62g
- Saturated Fat: 28g
- Cholesterol: 124mg
- Sodium: 2118mg
- Potassium: 418mg
- Fiber: 5g
- Sugar: 7g
- Vitamin A: 1370IU
- Vitamin C: 4mg
- Calcium: 419mg
- Iron: 6mg
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[…] you are looking for a fancy vegetarian dinner recipe I’m sure my “Festive Pumpkin Risotto with Pomegranate Seeds and Feta Crumbs” will be perfect for […]
[…] you are looking for a fancy vegetarian dinner recipe I’m sure my “Festive Pumpkin Risotto with Pomegranate Seeds and Feta Crumbs” will be perfect for […]