Family Dinner: Creamy Risoni with Pumpkin & Sweet Potato

This post is by Kylie Gardner of Octavia and Vicky.

This may be embarrassing to admit, but I find so much triumph and joy out in finding a family dinner which I actually enjoy eating too. I am very bored with meat and veg, can’t stand the sight of tuna mornay (my four year old daughter’s favourite) and there is only so much spaghetti bolognaise a woman can eat in her life.

That’s why I was absolutely delighted when I threw this creamy risoni with pumpkin and sweet potato together and it tasted great AND everyone loved it. Well, Pebble didn’t love it, but she ate it. And that’s a win with our little fuss pot. I’ve made a bulk batch to keep in the freezer and even made little mini frozen portions for our toddling baby, ‘Rocky’. Can I still call him a baby when he’s 12 months old? I’m clinging to that ‘baby’ title for just a little longer. Here’s the recipe – make sure you read to the end for a tip about storing baby food.

Creamy Risoni with Pumpkin & Sweet Potato Recipe

Serves: 4 – 6 (or makes one big batch of baby food for the freezer)

You will need:

• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced into roughly 1 cm cubes
• 1/2 butternut squash (or any pumpkin), peeled and diced into 1 cm squares
• 1 carrot, peeled and diced into roughly 1 cm cubes
• 1 potato, peeled and diced into roughly 1 cm cubes
• 2 teaspoons vegetable stock powder
• 1 cup risoni
• 1 cup cheddar cheese, grated

To make:

1. In a pot of boiling water, boil the risoni until just soft (read the packet for instructions, usually about ten minutes).
2. In a second pot place the sweet potato, butternut squash, carrot, potato and stock powder. Pour over enough water to just cover the vegetables then bring it to the boil. Reduce to a simmer until all the vegetables are soft (approximately 15 minutes).
3. Use a stick blender, or any other blending device, to blend the vegetable mixture in it’s cooking water until you have a smooth puree/sauce.
4. Add the drained risoni and grated cheese to the vegetable sauce and stir until the cheese is melted.

Hints & Tips

• We love eating this as a side dish with a piece of grilled chicken or steak, as well as on its own.

• If you want a thicker sauce remove some of the cooking water from the vegetables before pureeing. If serving on it’s own you might like to add more risoni for a more ‘risotto’ like texture.

• Baby Food Storage: We still use ice cube trays for storing Rocky’s food, as his appetite changes so much and I hate wasting food. I just heat up a few cubes of food at a time and if he’s still hungry I heat up a few more. Their small size means that they take just seconds to heat and they’re super easy to store in the freezer. However getting food into an ice cube tray can be messy and frustrating. Here’s how I do it without the mess;

1. Pour your food into a large zip lock bag.
2. Snip one corner of the bag open using scissors (don’t make the hole too large or the food will ooze out too quickly).
3. Use the zip lock bag like a piping bag and pipe the food into the ice cube tray. Easy peasy!

• I wrap my ice cube trays in glad wrap for freezing, but these days you can get those nifty ice cube trays with clip on lids too. Once the trays of food are frozen I pop them out of the ice cube trays and store them in a fresh zip lock bag, clearly labelled with the name of the food and the date that I stored it.

What’s your favourite dinner to cook your family?

Related Posts

• Family Dinner Recipe: Wheat Free Chicken Patties
• Cheese, Bacon & Spaghetti Pie, Oh My!
• Cooking with Kids: Canneloni