Pumpkin Risotto

I have been making my usual favorites like rasam, wholewheat pasta, injera, dosai, idlee and such but nothing new and exciting as Baby and I are just recovering from some sort of viral influenza thing... So, I casually started sifting through some old photos that I might have missed posting and found this pumpkin risotto one.

Risotto is a versatile rice dish open to variations - almost any combination of vegetables would work. This here is not quite the pumpkin risotto - Asian sweet potatoes and acorn squash stood in for pumpkin in this recipe.

Unless I use seafood/poultry explicitly (we don't care for red meat), my usual recipes are primarily vegetarian, and many of them actually turn out to be vegan. In that sense this pumpkin risotto can be classified as vegan, I guess...

For a non-vegan version, add some grated parmesan or pecorino-romano cheese, if preferred.

Ingredients
2 cups arboreo rice
6 cups vegetable stock (low sodium)
1 medium onion diced
4-5 garlic cloves crushed, minced or sliced
1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger
1 medium acorn (or butternut) squash, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
1 medium Asian sweet potato, peeled and cut into chunks
salt to taste
1 Tbsp olive oil

spices/herbs:
2 Tbsp fresh chopped rosemary (reserve some for garnish)
2 Tbsp ground black pepper or cayenne pepper powder
1 Tbsp paprika powder
1 tsp nutmeg powder

Preparation

1. heat oil in a pan, add the onion, garlic and ginger, sauté till onions turn translucent
2. add the squash and sweet potato chunks, rice, stock, some salt, cook over medium heat till all water is absorbed, stirring occasionally
3. i like the creamy consistency - not too thick, sort of like porridge - so, i smash some of the squash and sweet potatoes into the rice to give it some body
4. adjust salt to taste, stir in the spices and herbs