Ingredients
Method
- Prepare: Cut the pumpkin, skin on, and the peeled sweet potato into 1 cm dice (or grate them coarsely for a smoother sauce). Bring the stock to a simmer and keep it hot.
- Bacon and onion: Fry the diced bacon in a wide, heavy pan without oil over medium heat for 6 to 8 minutes, until crisp and the fat has run. Add the red onion and cook for 5 minutes more, until soft.
- Rice: Add the rice and the chilli flakes and stir for 1 to 2 minutes, until the grains look glossy. Add the pumpkin, the sweet potato and a ladle of hot stock.
- Simmer: Cook over medium-low heat for 18 to 20 minutes, stirring often and adding the stock a ladle at a time as it is absorbed, until the rice is soft with a slight bite and the vegetables have broken down into a golden sauce. Press a few pieces against the side of the pan with the spoon to help them along.
- Finish: Take the pan off the heat and stir in the butter. It should be loose and creamy; if it has gone stiff, add a splash more stock. Season with pepper, and with salt only if it needs it, and serve straight away in warm bowls with black pepper and a little chilli on top.
Notes
Coeliac notes
• Rice: plain rice is naturally gluten-free. Buy it in a sealed pack and read the label. Skip loose or bulk bins: the Celiac Disease Foundation advises against buying grains from bulk bins because of possible cross-contact with gluten. Flavoured rice and rice mixes can contain wheat flour, wheat starch or soy sauce, so read their ingredients.
• Vegetables and butter are naturally gluten-free.
• Stock: Coeliac UK advises checking the labels of stock cubes and seasonings. Use a cube labelled gluten-free, or water and a little more salt. Chilli flakes on their own are fine; read the label on any blend.
• Bacon: bacon with nothing added usually contains no gluten, but it is a processed meat, and Coeliac UK names processed foods like sausages among those where gluten can hide. Read the label, and skip glazed or marinated bacon unless it is labelled gluten-free.
• Ready-made risotto mixes are a processed product: read the ingredients.
• When a label is unclear, treat it as "not for me". Storage and swaps
• Rice leftovers need extra care: chill them as quickly as possible, ideally within an hour, keep them in the fridge for no more than a day, and reheat them only once, until steaming hot all the way through. You can also freeze them if they go into the freezer within an hour of cooking (Food Standards Agency, Home food fact checker).
• Vegetarian: leave out the bacon and soften the red onion in half the butter instead; a pinch of smoked paprika adds a little depth, if you like.
• Butternut works instead of Hokkaido; peel it first.
• Dairy-free: stir in a spoonful of olive oil instead of the butter.
• Rice: plain rice is naturally gluten-free. Buy it in a sealed pack and read the label. Skip loose or bulk bins: the Celiac Disease Foundation advises against buying grains from bulk bins because of possible cross-contact with gluten. Flavoured rice and rice mixes can contain wheat flour, wheat starch or soy sauce, so read their ingredients.
• Vegetables and butter are naturally gluten-free.
• Stock: Coeliac UK advises checking the labels of stock cubes and seasonings. Use a cube labelled gluten-free, or water and a little more salt. Chilli flakes on their own are fine; read the label on any blend.
• Bacon: bacon with nothing added usually contains no gluten, but it is a processed meat, and Coeliac UK names processed foods like sausages among those where gluten can hide. Read the label, and skip glazed or marinated bacon unless it is labelled gluten-free.
• Ready-made risotto mixes are a processed product: read the ingredients.
• When a label is unclear, treat it as "not for me". Storage and swaps
• Rice leftovers need extra care: chill them as quickly as possible, ideally within an hour, keep them in the fridge for no more than a day, and reheat them only once, until steaming hot all the way through. You can also freeze them if they go into the freezer within an hour of cooking (Food Standards Agency, Home food fact checker).
• Vegetarian: leave out the bacon and soften the red onion in half the butter instead; a pinch of smoked paprika adds a little depth, if you like.
• Butternut works instead of Hokkaido; peel it first.
• Dairy-free: stir in a spoonful of olive oil instead of the butter.