The Dish: Pumpkin risotto with seared scallops from Insatiable in Point Breeze
POINT BREEZE (WPVI) -- In today's The Dish, we're making something that some home chefs can find intimidating: risotto. It can be easy to burn and often hard to get the consistency right.
I head to a new restaurant in Point Breeze, where the chef/owner shows us how to master this Italian rice dish that's she's serving with a seasonal taste of pumpkin and some beautiful seared scallops.
"It's very easy to make risotto," says Denise Gesek, the chef-owner of Insatiable. "But I do think a lot of people get afraid of it."
Have no fear, Chef Denise is teaching us Risotto 101! There's one main rule: it needs constant attention.
"It's constant love," Gesek says. "You have to stay with it the whole time."
Chef Denise is celebrating her one year anniversary at Insatiable, her very first brick and mortar restaurant.
"I'm one year old or one year young, shall we say," Gesek says. "It's been great. The community has been very kind to me."
When Chef Denise opened Insatiable in Point Breeze, she was fulfilling a lifelong dream.
"My daughter's grown, and I always wanted a restaurant," she says. "I said, 'This is it. This is the time for me. If you have the passion, you won't give up. And I did it, I achieved my dream. Finally, I did it. It took me a while, but never give up on your dream. It works."
She says when she saw the space at 21st and Federal, it spoke to her.
"I love the neighborhood," she says. "I love the cuteness. It's small. I can handle it."
And she does it all: front of the house, bartending, cooking. The menu is as diverse as her decades of experience.
"I wanted to give this neighborhood a little bit of everything," she says. "It's elevated American. There's a little bit of Italian, a little bit of Asian, a little bit of French. My price point is that there is nothing over $30 on my menu."
There are touches of home on the menu too, like a spring mix salad named after grandma.
"It's the 'Graziella'," Denise explains. "She made a garlic dressing, and we used to have that every night."
Denise's signature dish is something she simply cannot take off the menu.
"These are onion soup dumplings," she says. "I make a classic French onion soup, and then I have the wonton skins and stuff them with the soup and Gruyere and Swiss cheese."
Every dish leads back to the idea of being insatiable.
"It's a never-ending hunger for different ingredients, different foods," she says. "Never stop! Never stop learning."
Pumpkin Risotto with Seared Scallops Recipe from Insatiable by Chef Denise
Pumpkin Risotto:
Ingredients:
- 4 to 5 cups chicken or vegetable stock
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 3/4 pound onion, finely chopped
- 1 large clove garlic, minced
- 1 cup arborio rice
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 cup solid-pack canned pumpkin puree
- 6 tablespoons coarsely grated Parmigiano Reggiano
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Heat the stock to a simmer and continue simmering it while preparing the recipe
2. Heat the nonstick pot until it is very hot. Reduce heat to medium high and add oil
3. Sauté onion and garlic until onion begins to soften
4. Stir in rice to coat well; add wine, and cook until wine has evaporated
5. Add 1 cup of the stock with the nutmeg to the rice; reduce heat so that mixture simmers. Stir often, cooking until most of the liquid has been absorbed by the rice. Repeat with another cup of stock, and continue stirring, adding stock until the rice is almost tender but still has some bite to it
6. Stir in the pumpkin, cheese, salt and pepper and stir until mixture is hot
7. Keep warm in pan until scallops are prepared
Seared Scallops:
Ingredients:
- 12 large dry sea scallops, 1 and 1/4 to 1 and 1/2 pounds
- Salt and fresh ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons butter
Directions:
1. Pat the scallops dry with a paper towel and season with salt and pepper
2. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the butter to the pan. When the butter is hot and shimmery, place the scallops in the pan, seasoned side down
3. Cook, without moving them, until browned, about 2 minutes
4. While the first side is browning, season the unseasoned side of the scallops with salt and pepper
5. Turn the scallops. If any stick to the pan, wait a few more seconds then try again, gently wiggling them side to side to help release them
6. Add the butter to the pan, swirling the butter around as it melts
7. Cook another minute or two, then remove the pan from the heat
8. Serve over the pumpkin risotto
Maple Butter:
Ingredients:
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon Vermont maple syrup
- 1/2 lemon
Directions:
1. Melt butter in pan on low heat. Add Vermont maple syrup and squeeze the lemon half
2. Lightly drizzle over each scallop
