Pumpkin Rice Squid and Baked Prawns - All Around Is Gluten Free

Pumpkin, Rice, Baked Squid and Shrimp.

Pumpkin, Rice, Baked Squid and Shrimp
Pumpkin: for us a passion.
A great rice: a pleasure. Squid and shrimp: what more can I say?

Our daughters propose: tomorrow we would like a baked pumpkin stuffed with rice, squid and shrimp.

A moment of indecision.
What will be the result? Put aside skepticism – concerns: the sweetness of the pumpkin blends perfectly with the flavor of molluscs and crustaceans such as shrimps, prawns or squid – perfect union.

Meats with a delicate taste of the sea marry the sweet and creamy taste of pumpkin.
I recommend trying this pumpkin and squid risotto.

Combine and mix these flavors with a strictly Italian rice: this time our choice was for a Rice Carnaroli (Po Delta Rice I.G.P.) produced by “ Grandi Riso “.

Pumpkin Chestnut (Hokkaido/ Chestnut/Uchiki Kuri) of the Farm Nadalini .
Squid and shrimp from our Tyrrhenian Sea.
Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil obtained from the pressing of Molise olives from ” Oil mill Cooperativo Di San Martino In Pensilis “.

The excellence of the products is the first basis for the success of a good dish (excellence helps:I am helped by the products even not being a good cook).

Ingredients for 4 people for “Pumpkin, Rice, Baked Squid and Shrimp”:

290 GR. of rice Carnaroli “ Grandi Riso “

2 small pumpkins “Chestnut” (for a total of about 1 Kg.) or 1 unique of the Farm Nadalini
200 about grams of clean squid (I cleaned them at home)

350 grams of shrimp to clean

1/2 Onion

White wine (dry)

Italian extra virgin olive oil (EVO). I used "Oleificio Cooperativo Di San Martino In Pensilis ”
Salt (How Much Enough)

Step by step:

Wash pumpkins well (whole with the sole exception of the petiole that you have removed) and bake in a ventilated oven at 160 °C for 50 minutes or 1 now (to control the cooking use a toothpick: when the toothpick will easily enter the pumpkin this is cooked and you can remove from the oven).

Remember: the peel of this pumpkin is very good to eat.

Meanwhile:

I deliberately did not clean the squid from the fishmonger because I preferred to clean them at home together with the shrimps: I used the entrails (keep the ink bag because you can use it for other preparations – if you do not use it immediately you can also freeze it), the skin, the beak and eyes from the head and the scraps of the shrimps to make a broth / fish cartoon of about 800 milliliters that I then used in cooking the rice after having it well filtered.

I cleaned and rinsed well the squid cleaned and cut into slices of about 1 cm thick and I also cleaned the shrimps (the skin, the beak the eyes from the head, carapace, Legs, antenna) .

Prepare the broth that must be kept warm.

When the pumpkins will be cooked, remove from the oven: cut the pumpkin horizontally two centimeters below the top (where you removed the baby).
Remove the seeds with the help of a spoon and a small knife.

Take the pulp internally leaving the outer peel with a centimeter of pulp – be careful in removing not to pierce the peel of the pumpkin that we will then have to fill.

In a thick-bottomed pot pour a drizzle of oil and finely chopped onion and brown it.
Add the rice, salt and toast it over high heat for 2′ continuing to turn so that it does not stick to the bottom.

Blend with half a glass of white wine and, when the wine has completely evaporated, just cover the rice with the fish broth.
Cook the rice for 4-5′ without stirring, checking that the broth does not dry completely in the meantime.

Add the pumpkin pulp to the rice.

Continue to pour one ladle at a time the fish broth, stirring so that the risotto does not stick.

About 5′ from the cooking of the risotto – calculate 3 -4 minutes less than the time indicated in the package -, heat a pan with a drizzle of oil and cook the rings and squid heads over high heat for 3′ (no later, otherwise the squid will be hard and chewy) and add the shrimp to the cooking for 1 1/2 minute.

Pour the cooked squid and shrimp into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap until ready to stir..

In the meantime you will have greased with a drizzle of oil the pumpkins internment and put a pinch of salt.

Before finishing cooking – times indicated above- control the salting of rice.
Turn off the heat and add the squid and shrimp and stir in spoonfuls of extra virgin olive oil – creaming can also be done with oil and not only with butter.

You will have kept the oven warm at 160 °.

Fill the pumpkins with the creamy risotto with squid and shrimp.
Cover with pumpkin caps and put in the hot oven for 4 – 5 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let it rest for a few minutes.
Cut the pumpkins into two or four equal parts and serve.

Enjoy your meal,

Anto

P.S. If you have not eaten all the pumpkin wrap with risotto, you can enjoy a slice of gluten-free bread with a drop of extra virgin olive oil.

This is not a preparation to be performed suddenly when you do not have much time available and I recommend it even when you have guests at the table: you will amaze everyone with something delicious and special.