Pumpkin squash risotto with black truffle sauce

Thus pumpkin squash risotto is a simple and genuine first course typical of Italian country tradition. The toasting of the rice, slow cooking and cream sauce are an important and key factors in the dish’s success. In this recipe, the touch of black truffle transforms a classic risotto into a refined gourmet creation. We pair it with Ferentani Bianco del Lazio della Falesco Famiglia Cotarella.

Ingredients for 4 people:

250g carnaroli rice, 500g pumpkin squash pulp, 60g butter, 30g extra-virgin olive oil, 50g Parmigiano Reggiano, 1 shallot, 1l vegetable broth, 1 small, razor-sliced black truffle, a garlic clove and salt and pepper as needed.

Directions:

Prepare the truffle sauce first by using it to create an infusion together with EVOO (around five tablespoons) and garlic clove and letting it sit for around two hours. Filter out the truffle and then heat the oil with the garlic until the latter becomes golden-brown. Remove from the heat and add back the truffle. Blend everything into a creamy sauce and keep aside.

Melt a knob of butter in a pan with EVOO and the finely chopped shallot. Add the squash that has been cut into small cubes and cook at a low heat for around 20 minutes, salting to taste.

In another, larger pan toast the rice at a high heat with the rest of the butter and EVOO, add a ladle of hot broth and let it be absorbed by the rice. Add the cooked squash and more broth, one ladle at a time, and continue to cook until the rice is done.

Salt and pepper to taste and then mix in the Parmigiano Reggiano to make it creamy. Serve on a plate topped with the black truffle sauce.

Wine to pair: 

(edited by Stefania Vinciguerra)

Ferentano Lazio Bianco Falesco Famiglia Cotarella

This label represents the way Falesco and the Cotarella family have taken to increase the value of Roscetto, an ancient indigenous variety of the territory of Montefiascone. This grape with small compact bunches, having a low yield, can offer a full bodied wine with great extracts, thanks to its good sugar content and acidity ratio and its peculiar aromatic notes provided, when grown and vinified properly.

Bright golden yellow color. Very attractive aromas of vanilla and white peach, flint and exotic fruits hints. Rich, intense, savory and warm taste. Very persistent finish.

Production area: Montefiascone, in a 6 Ha vineyard at 300 metres above the sea, with a crumbly, rich in pebbles type of soil.

Grape variety: Roscetto 100%, spur cordon training system, vine density of 4.200 plants/Ha and 6 t/ha production.

Wine making: Harvest takes place late September. The selected grapes are exposed to cryomaceration which exalts the Roscetto varietal characteristics. The first step of the alcoholic fermentation is carried out in steel vats at a temperature of 13-15°C. The second part of the alcoholic and malolactic fermentations takes place in barrique where the wine continues to evolve for 4 months.

Alcoholic content: 12,50% vol.

Serving temperature: 10-12°C.

Curiosities: the five concentric circles symbol that appears on the label is recorded on some findings of alleged Byzantine origin that have been found in the archaeological site of Ferento: the ancient Etruscan town, located near the vineyards where the grapes of Roscetto grow, from which derives the name Ferentano.