Looking for more? 

We’re just an email away.

Recipes

min

Published March 2026

Andrea’s balsamic pumpkin risotto

Rice has been cultivated in northern Italy since the Middle Ages and is therefore a very popular ingredient that has always been present in the popular diet and in a variety of recipes.

The Italians’ most popular rice dish is risotto. Its base is a variety of rice that has a high starch content, which is released during the cooking process by continuously stirring (named mantecatura) and gives it its creamy appearance. The starch plays two roles: it makes the texture of the rice creamy and velvety and retains the flavours added through accompanying ingredients that are characteristic for the risotto dish, such as pumpkin.

Pumpkin risotto is a traditional dish consumed mainly in winter when other vegetables are naturally less abundant: pumpkin is in fact well suited to being stored throughout the winter.  Today we want to share the family recipe of our Italian farmer Andrea, who created a version with balsamic vinegar.


You can find (almost) all of the ingredients for the risotto here.


Instructions:

The first step is preparing the vegetable broth that will be used for cooking the rice. If you are short on time you can also skip this step and use a ready-made vegetable broth or a vegetable stock cube instead.

  1. Place two carrots, one piece of celery and a small golden onion  in a large saucepan. Add 1 tbsp salt and about 750ml of water and boil for at least 30 minutes. 
  2. Meanwhile, clean the pumpkin and cut it into 1 cm cubes. 
  3. Warm 30 gr butter in a medium pan, ideally an anti-adherent one. Then pour the rice on it and toast it at high heat for 1-2 minutes while stirring it. 
  4. Once the rice is toasted, start adding enough broth to cover it and lower the heat. 
  5. After about 4 minutes, add the pieces of pumpkin and let them cook for 10-12 minutes, while adding little by little more ladles of broth as the previous amount is absorbed. Stir the rice the least possible. 
  6. Once the rice is properly cooked, add the remaining butter, the grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and a bit of chopped rosemary.
  7. Before serving the risotto top it with a generous drizzle of Balsamic. 


    Enjoy!

Written by Farmers of CrowdFarming

Farmers of CrowdFarming

Share this content:

Keep digging ...

Recipes

40 min

Apple walnut tart recipe

With the holidays just around the corner, our farmer Kathrin Wiest from Biohof Hund has shared one of her favourite seasonal recipes: an apple walnut tart passed down through generations in her family.Kathrin grew up spending weekends on her grandparents’ farm, where she helped with the hay harvest, milking the cows, harvesting vegetables, and discovering early on the importance of knowing where your food comes from. “Good food doesn’t begin in the kitchen,” she says, “it begins in the field.”This profound appreciation for the land followed her through her career in gastronomy and now into her work at Biohof Hund, where she combines her diverse background in gastronomy, organic farming, and horticulture.For Kathryn, working on the farm is more than just a job: “It’s a return to my roots,” she says, “a conscious choice for sustainability and regionality, and a step toward a future that truly makes sense – for my family, for our farm, and for society as a whole.”For Kathrin, this recipe captures values she grew up with: simplicity, seasonality, and a meaningful connection to the land.In this simple and delicious recipe, apples are arranged on top of a rich walnut cream and soft buttery crust: the perfect dessert to have around this winter.Save this recipe for your next holiday gathering!Apple & Walnut TartIngredients:  300 g spelt flour (plus a little extra for dusting) 120 g soft brown sugar Pinch of salt 2 medium eggs 200 g butter (130 g cold, 70 g softened, plus a little extra for greasing) 1 kg tart apples 2 tbsp lemon juice 150 g walnut halves 1 sachet vanilla sugar 50 g honey 80 ml double cream 1 pinch ground cinnamon Preparation:Place 250 g of the flour, 70 g of the sugar, a pinch of salt, 1 egg and the 130 g cold butter (cut into pieces) in a bowl. First mix with the dough hooks of a hand mixer, then knead briefly by hand until you have a smooth dough. Shape into a disc, wrap in cling film and chill for 30 minutes.Peel the apples, quarter them, remove the cores and slice into thin wedges. Toss with the lemon juice.For the filling, finely grind 50 g of the walnuts in a food processor. Beat 50 g soft butter, 50 g sugar, the vanilla sugar and a pinch of salt with a hand mixer until very creamy. Beat in 1 egg. Add the ground nuts and 50 g flour and mix briefly.Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan). Roll out the chilled dough on a floured surface to about 30 cm in diameter and line a greased 28 cm tart or springform tin. Press the dough up the sides and prick the base several times with a fork.Spread the walnut cream over the base and arrange the apple slices on top. Bake on a rack set directly on the oven floor for 25 minutes.Meanwhile, for the nut topping, roughly chop the remaining 100 g walnuts. In a small saucepan, heat the honey, cream, cinnamon and 20 g butter, bring to the boil while stirring and simmer for 2 minutes. Stir in the walnuts.After the tart has baked for 25 minutes, spoon the nut mixture over the apples and bake for a further 10 minutes on the middle shelf.Leave to cool in the tin on a wire rack. Carefully remove from the tin and serve with whipped cream.

Read