The baked rice with pumpkin, speck and peas is a warming first course: tasty, rich, perfect for the Sunday table or festive days. This baked rice with pumpkin, speck and peas was also created a bit by chance, one of those “I open the fridge and cook” recipes, and with what was available an extraordinary dish came out: a creamy, stringy center and a delicious crunchy crust.
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- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Budget-friendly
- Preparation time: 25 Minutes
- Cooking time: 1 Hour
- Portions: 2 People
- Cooking methods: Stovetop, Oven, Electric oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter
Ingredients
- 1 cup Hokkaido pumpkin (weight already cleaned (about 9 oz / 260 g))
- 1/2 cup frozen peas
- 2 oz speck (cut into strips)
- 3.5 oz fresh Asiago cheese
- to taste grated Parmesan
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- to taste salt
- 3/4 cup Vialone Nano rice
Tools
- 1 Cutting board
- 1 Knife
- 1 Casserole low-sided
- 1 Pot for pasta
- 1 Baking dish
Steps
In a low-sided casserole, heat the olive oil and cook the cleaned pumpkin cut into cubes together with the peas, adding hot water occasionally until the pumpkin is tender. This will take about thirty minutes. Add the speck cut into strips and let it infuse its flavor. Adjust the salt, keeping in mind that speck is already quite savory. Mash the pumpkin with a fork to obtain a creamy sauce. Cut the Asiago into cubes. Boil the rice in plenty of salted boiling water for the time indicated on the package, drain it, and transfer it to the casserole with the prepared sauce. Mix the rice with the sauce, add the Asiago cubes and the grated Parmesan, stir, and transfer everything into a baking dish. Brown under a preheated oven at 356 °F for twenty minutes or until a nice golden crust forms on the surface. Serve the baked rice very hot.
