Start by preparing the pumpkin purée. You can also roast it the day before and put it aside until you need to cook the timbales. Heat the oven to 190°C. Cut the Mantuan pumpkin into thick slices of around a centimetre, arrange them on a baking tray covered with parchment paper and drizzle with a few spoons of extra virgin olive oil. Season the pumpkin with salt and ground black pepper. Roast the pumpkin in the hot oven for around 30 minutes, until soft and slightly caramelised around the edges. Spoon the pumpkin into a bowl, removing the skins, which will be full of flavour, soft and delicious. Don’t throw them away, instead eat them right away!

Once the roast pumpkin purée is ready, prepare the rice timbales.

Add a few spoonfuls of extra virgin olive oil into a pan, add the finely chopped shallot and let it cook over a low heat until soft.

Tear apart the sausages using your hands, add the broken bits of sausage to the shallot and stir to cook for a few minutes.

At this point, add the rice to the pan and toast it for a little while, mixing with a spoon, until translucent. Pour in the white wine and let it evaporate over a medium heat.

Spoon, bit by bit, the vegetable stock into the rice, stirring vigorously until it’s a creamy consistency. I chose to use light brown Ribe rice, so the cooking time is 15-20 minutes, longer than a classic risotto rice would need.

When the rice is almost ready, add the parmesan and half of the pumpkin purée, whisk the rice to a creamy consistency.

Off the heat, add the whisked egg and mix quickly into the rice to incorporate it all.

Grease six ramekins with butter and sprinkle with breadcrumbs, then fill them with the risotto. Cut the pecorino cheese into cubes and push one into the centre of each timbale. Then, sprinkle the remaining breadcrumbs onto the top of each timbale.

Bake the timbales in the oven at 180°C for 20 minutes, until they are golden brown.

In the meantime, melt the remaining pecorino cheese with the milk, over a low heat, and add the remaining pumpkin purée. Serve the timbales with a spoonful of pecorino and pumpkin fondue.