Pumpkin and Rocket Risotto

The carcass of the chicken from the other night boiled down to some great stock, and I used a good half of it in this lovely risotto, full of flavours I was simply craving. The rocket I bought turned out to be very spicy, so it needed a little more cooking time than a milder leaf like watercress.

Ingredients:

• 250g pumpkin, peeled and diced
• 100g feta cheese (optional)
• two sprigs of rosemary
• half a white onion
• a stick of celery
• half a carrot
• two bay leaves
• 200-300g of risotto rice, depending on how hungry you are
• 500-700ml of good chicken stock (vegetarians obviously substitute vegetable stock)
• a generous handful of rocket
• pumpkin seeds, to scatter over

Roast the pumpkin, rosemary and feta (if using), drizzled with a little olive oil, at 220 C for half an hour, until golden and tender. Meanwhile, finely chop the onion, celery and carrot, and fry for a few minutes, until the harshness of the onion has cooked away. Add the bay leaves and rice, fry for a further minute, then add the stock a third at a time every five minutes, stirring well with each addition, to bring the gluten out and make the risotto creamy.

When the rice is cooked to your liking (I prefer mine with just a tiny bit of bite), stir through the rocket and roasted pumpkin mixture, carefully so as not to break up the pumpkin. Serve immediately, scattered with pumpkin seeds.