🎃 Pumpkin Risotto (Risotto alla Zucca)
Risotto alla zucca is a northern Italian autumn dish of Arborio rice slowly cooked with pumpkin until the squash melts into the grains. Butter and Parmesan stirred in at the end give a velvety, gently sweet result, and crisp sage leaves add an earthy note. It is served hot in shallow bowls, often with extra grated cheese.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 320 g Arborio rice
- 500 g pumpkin, diced
- 40 g butter
- 60 g Parmesan, grated
- 8 sage leaves
- 1.2 l hot water
- Salt, pepper
Method
- Melt half the butter, add the pumpkin and cook for 8 minutes until soft, mashing some of it.
- Add the rice and stir for 2 minutes to toast.
- Add hot water a ladle at a time, stirring, for about 18 minutes.
- Fry the sage leaves in the remaining butter until crisp.
- Off the heat, stir in the Parmesan, season and top with the sage.
How to make it lighter
- 1 tbsp butter ≈ 100 kcal: halving the butter saves around 150 kcal per pan.
- Use more pumpkin and less rice — the squash adds volume for far fewer calories.
- Grate the Parmesan finely so a smaller amount covers more.
History
Pumpkin has long been grown in the Po valley, and risotto alla zucca is a seasonal classic around Mantua and the Veneto. It is cooked in homes and restaurants across northern Italy every autumn.
Count it in one photo
Point your camera at the table — Me Nutrition recognises Pumpkin Risotto (Risotto alla Zucca) and every other dish, with calories and macros for each. Ate only half? Slide it.
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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →