When there’s fennel in my veggie order, I am ashamed to say I pretty much do the same thing with it. Every time. It’s so good roasted though, so nobody complains (yet). Paired with roasted root veg – well, who’s going to turn their nose up at a pumpkin and fennel risotto? Especially if it’s easy!
Not me, anyway. I love risotto. In fact, I don’t there’s ever been a risotto I didn’t like – I appear to be able to make friends with all varieties. I also tend to make an absolute ton, and freeze it for those days when I just cannot be arsed making a proper lunch. Which, let’s face it, is every day. Totally the reason I started The Quick Lunch series.
So if you’re wondering what the hell to do with a bunch of fennel (and you’re not going to make Roasted Pumpkin, Haloumi, and Fennel Salad, or Pumpkin and Fennel Lasagna (seeing a pattern yet?!!) you can make this.
So what do YOU do with fennel?
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bake the veggies, and stir into rice with butter and stock – easy! You can totally dress up a pumpkin and fennel risotto, or have as a family-friendly dish.
Ingredients
- 1 Large onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 stalks celery, finely chopped
- 400g arborio rice
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 2l vegetable stock (you may not need this much, but it’s good to have extra in case)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup parmesan style cheese
- salt and pepper
- 500g pumpkin, peeled, seeded, and diced into chunks
- 1 Large fennel bulb, sliced into 2-inch pieces (save the fronds)
Instructions
- Spread the vegetables out into two baking dishes, so there’s a bit of room around them. Bake for 20-30 minutes, until pumpkin and fennel is soft and starting to caramelise.
- Heat your stock in a saucepan, and leave to simmer.
- heat a drizzle of olive oil and a knob of butter in a large pot and saute the onion, garlic, and celery, until soft.
- Add the arborio rice and stir for a minute or two, to lightly fry. Turn heat down to just above a simmer.
- Add the wine, and stir until totally absorbed.
- Add the stock to the rice, a ladelful at a time, until rice is tender. I find this takes 20-25 minutes. And yes, you must stir pretty constantly!
- When rice is soft, check for seasoning. Add butter and cheese. Gently fold through the pumpkin and fennel and serve with extra cheese and the fennel fronds on top.
Keywords: fennel risotto, fennel recipes, pumpkin risotto
Needs more mushrooms. Wait. It doesn’t have mushrooms! Better add some then…. (Just kidding – I do love a good risotto…)..
I fucking LOVE pumpkin. Grew up on it as my Nonna grew it in her garden. We eat it raw in salads, but my husband has it listed as his 2nd worst foods ever (1st is celery). But I reckon I might try to fool him with this dish cos he does love a risotto… I’ll let you know how it goes lol xx
Fennel and pumpkin is a winning combination what every you put it in.
I adore rissotto, I retain water like a mofo after any rice meals but it is so worth it!! x
I love pumpkin AND fennel. What a winner dinner!
I love pumpkin risotto but I don’t think I’ve EVER cooked with fennel! I’ll have to test it out!