Sweet Corn and Sunflower Seeds

It has taken some time and a bit of executed listening to allow us to bring new life to our sunflower seed risotto.  One of Aki's issues with the risotto is that it can tend to be heavy.  We were using pureed sunflower seeds to thicken and unite the grains and garnishes and thus creating an intense and rich product.  The richness of the risotto forced us to serve small portions so as not to overwhelm diners.  Yet, we wanted to be able to serve the risotto as an appetizer.  Aki came up with the idea of using a vegetable puree to bind the seeds rather than the seeds themselves.  We continue to cook the seeds in a flavored broth in the pressure cooker though now a variety of vegetable purees add both flavor and body to the risotto.  Our first dish which featured the vegetable base was a risotto of sunflower seeds and corn served with smoked trout and piquillo peppers.  My only regret is that we did not try this sooner.  Actually we had plans to though I kept forgetting the plans.