Make Halloween extra special with this spooky black rice risotto stuffed pumpkin recipe!
A fun savoury meal or side dish to throw together this Halloween packed full of spooky characters, that tastes delicious too! Featuring ghosts, skulls and jack-o’-lanterns all emerging from a roasted pumpkin cauldron!
This is the perfect way to celebrate and do something a little different this October 31st to balance out all those sweet treats!
Let’s get brewing on our special creation, shall we?!
Ingredients to make this black rice risotto recipe:
Buttercup Pumpkin
The pumpkin works as the vessel aka brewing cauldron for all the deliciousness in this recipe. Not only does it look the part, but it’s also edible. Which makes it even better, like a built-in bowl!
It gets baked whole with all the seeds and inner parts removed, drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper before baking in the oven until soft.
Depending on the size of your pumpkin, the cooking time can vary. Cook it until tender and a fork can easily pierce through the flesh.
Button Mushrooms
Button mushrooms are used to create the skulls that make this rice risotto spooky, with that Halloween feel. Here I used white button mushrooms but Swiss brown mushrooms will also work.
TIP: Leave the skin on the mushrooms and lightly rub off the dirt with a paper towel or mushroom brush if you’ve got one.
Trim off the tips of the stems to create a straight line and then they’re all ready to carve faces into.
Eggplant/ aubergine
Eggplant, also known as aubergine, create the ghosts in this recipe. Working particularly well as they become soft and a little translucent as they cook down. As if to mimic the fluidity of a ghost’s movements! Generously drizzle with oil, as it will soak up most of the moisture as it cooks.
Seasoning with salt and black pepper creates a bit of speckle to the ghosts, which adds to the texture, flavour and mysterious appeal of the characters (which could make them look like they’re either appearing or disappearing).
Chop up any leftover eggplant after creating your ghosts and add them to the carrots, onions and celery as they get cooked off for the rice risotto mixture.
Courgette/ zucchini
For the jack-o’-lanterns. One great thing about courgettes is that they soften and create wrinkled faces that add to the effect. And then you end up with some interesting faces and jack-o’-lanterns at the end!
Don’t forget to also throw the leftover cut-out pieces/ offcuts in with your risotto vegetables, to make the most of them.
Rosemary
Add a spring into your vegetables as they roast to infuse in some flavour, along with the garlic.
You can also use a few extra smaller bits to garnish your pumpkin at the end to add to the spooky Halloween scene.
Related: Essential culinary herbs you need to have in your kitchen
Garlic
Smash two cloves of garlic with the side of your knife gently with the skin on. This will help it to infuse and release its flavours into the vegetables as they get roasted.
You don’t even have to peel the skin off at all, just add it straight onto your roasting tray of vegetables.
Brown Onion
Along with carrots and celery, make a mirepoix. Which is essentially the base of flavour components for many different dishes, including this one. It gives it a lovely savoury starting point, in which the dish expands. Cook until it softens and turns translucent, then go in with the rice.
Carrot
Not only adds great colour but also has a great base flavour for this dish. Give it a peel before finely dicing it into similar-sized pieces as both the onion and celery to ensure it cooks at roughly the same time.
Celery
Use one stem of celery and finely chop. There’s no need to peel the celery at all.
Mixed Herb
Adds a great flavour to the vegetables as a seasoning with some depth. Allow it to cook out slightly before you go in with the rice and stock.
Black Rice
Unmilled rice with the nutrient-rich black rice husk is still attached (source).
Black rice works particularly well as a natural colouring. In this recipe it transfers its colour to the white rice, making it perfect for the Halloween theme.
It takes a little while longer to cook than white rice, so when cooking it together, make sure you keep this in mind.
White Medium Grain Rice
Combined with the black rice to make this risotto. It first gets toasted in oil with the vegetables, to start the cooking process. This allows the outer layer of rice to get cooked and reduces the overall cooking time.
Then the stock is added, to allow the rice to cook through, absorb the flavours and soak up all of the liquid.
It is done when it’s nice and tender.
Chicken Stock
Homemade is best, but a close second is store-bought if you haven’t got any.
Chicken stock is the most versatile stock that pairs well with pretty much anything due to its neutral flavour.
As a replacement, you could also use vegetable stock.
Related: How to make your very own vegetable stock from kitchen scraps
Black Rice Risotto Recipe Tips:
Preparing and roasting pumpkin:
- Start by slicing the top of your pumpkin with a sharp knife. I find the easiest way is to utilise the tip of your knife. Start by piercing through the tough skin, then slowly make your way around the pumpkin and cut through as you rotate it around.
- Once you’ve cut the top off the pumpkin, use a spoon to scoop out all the seeds and inners (aka stringy parts in the middle). Reserve the seeds for roasting for a snack later if desired and then place the pumpkin on a lined baking tray.
- Drizzle all over the pumpkin with olive oil including both the inside, outside and the top which will become the lid. Feel free to use your hands if you would like to make sure it’s all well-coated.
- Season generously with salt and pepper. Then put the top back on the base of the pumpkin and place in the oven to bake until tender. This will take approximately 1 hour or so.
Halloween Vegetables:
Mushroom skulls:
- Rub the dirt off the mushrooms and trim the stems to create a straight edge. Then using a small sharp paring knife cut vertical lines in the mushroom stems for the teeth.
- Carve out two holes for the eyes and then a triangular nose to complete the face of the skull.
- Reserve all of the mushroom offcuts (from the eyes, nose and teeth) to add to the black rice risotto.
Courgette jack-o’-lanterns:
- Start by slicing the courgette into 1cm rounds.
- Then using a sharp paring knife, cut out the faces for your jack-o’-lanterns. This is where you can get creative and cut out any shape you like, you can even make them all different! I found that triangular shapes work particularly well, especially for the downturned evil eyes.
- Reserve the offcuts for adding to the black rice risotto.
Eggplant ghosts:
- Start by slicing the eggplant into 1cm rounds.
- Then using a sharp paring knife cut out a ghost shape in the centre of each round.
- Use a skewer or toothpick to poke holes in the eyes and mouth.
- Finely chop the leftover eggplant to add to the black rice risotto.
Once you have shaped and cut out all of your Halloween vegetables, add them onto a lined baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Add the sprig of rosemary and smashed garlic cloves to the tray and bake for 20-30 minutes or until the vegetables are golden and tender.
Asparagus:
- Prepare the asparagus by snapping off the tough woody ends. This is best done by simply bending the end section of the spear back with your hands. There will be a natural point in which it will snap and then you have automatically removed what you don’t need.
- Cut asparagus spears into 3cm pieces.
- Blanch spears in well-salted boiling water for 30 seconds.
- Then grill or pan fry with some oil for a few minutes, until tender.
- Season with salt and pepper.
Making Black Rice Risotto:
- Cook off the onion, carrot, celery and all the offcuts from the Halloween vegetables in a drizzle of olive oil over medium heat in a large frypan.
- Then once softened, add in the black and white rice to toast for 5 minutes.
- Once toasted, add in the chicken stock and bring to the boil.
- When boiling, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for 15-20 minutes until the rice is tender.
Assembling the Halloween Black Rice Risotto Stuffed Pumpkin:
- Transfer the roasted pumpkin to a large serving platter, then fill with the black rice risotto, allowing it to pile up.
- Top with all of the Halloween vegetables in and around the risotto-filled pumpkin. Then poke some asparagus spears in between, allowing them to emerge out of the pumpkin cauldron along with the Halloween characters.
- Optional: garnish with a few extra pieces of rosemary.
- Lean the top of the pumpkin beside the base of the pumpkin and serve immediately.
Halloween Black Rice Risotto Stuffed Pumpkin
Ingredients
Roasted Pumpkin
- 1 buttercup pumpkin approx 1.25kg
Halloween vegetables
- 8 button mushrooms
- 1 courgette
- 1 eggplant
- 2 garlic cloves lightly smashed
- 1 rosemary sprig + extra to garnish (optional)
- 150 g asparagus cut into 3cm pieces
- olive oil
- salt and pepper
Black Rice Risotto
- ½ cup (100g) black rice
- ½ cup (100g) medium grain white rice
- 1 brown onion finely diced
- 1 carrot finely diced
- 1 celery stalk finely diced
- 1 tbsp (2g) dried mixed herbs
- 2 cups (500ml) chicken stock
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C Bake.
Roasted Pumpkin
- Slice the top of the pumpkin and scoop out the seeds and innards. Then place on a lined baking tray and drizzle all over the pumpkin with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Put the top back on the base of the pumpkin and bake for 1 hour or until the pumpkin is tender.
Halloween vegetables
- Mushroom skulls: use a small sharp knife to create lines in the stem of the mushroom for the teeth of the skull. Then carve out eyes and noses in the base of the mushroom. Set aside the offcuts (to add to the rice risotto)
- Courgette Jack-o'-lanterns: slice courgette into 1cm rounds and cut out eyes, noses and mouths in each slice. Set aside the offcuts (to add to the rice risotto)
- Eggplant Ghosts: slice eggplant in 1cm rounds, cut out ghost shapes, then use a skewer or toothpick to make eyes and mouths for each ghost. Finely chop the leftover offcuts of eggplant and set them aside for later (to use in the rice risotto)
- Once you have shaped all your Halloween vegetables, spread them out evenly on a lined tray, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Add the smashed garlic and rosemary, then bake for 30 minutes or until the vegetables are golden and cooked through.
- Blanch asparagus in salted boiling water for 30 seconds, then grill or pan-fry with some oil for a few minutes, until tender. Season with salt and pepper.
Black Rice Risotto
- Heat a generous drizzle of oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add in the onion, carrot, celery and reserved offcuts from the mushroom, courgette and eggplant. Cook for 3-4 minutes, until softened.
- Add in the dried mixed herbs and cook for a further minute.
- Add another drizzle of oil and then stir in the black and white rice. Allow the rice to toast for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Slowly add in the chicken stock and bring to a boil.
- Once boiling reduce to a simmer and cover. Let the rice cook covered for 15- 20 minutes until the rice is cooked through and the water has absorbed.
Construction
- Transfer the roasted pumpkin onto a large serving platter, then stuff the pumpkin with the black rice risotto. Top with the Halloween vegetables and asparagus. Garnish with extra sprigs of rosemary if desired.
- Serve immediately and enjoy while still hot.
If you make this Halloween black rice stuffed pumpkin recipe, tag @theculinaryletter on Instagram and #theculinaryletter, I’d love to see your amazing creations!
Don’t forget to also pin this recipe for future reference and follow me on Pinterest while you’re at it!
More Savoury Recipes:
Until next time, stay curious!
Stay connected!
