Recipe: Squash Risotto

For many years, we have not eaten rice at our house.  My wife doesn’t like it, which I always thought was odd because she will order fried rice when we are doing Chinese takeout.  Oh well, some things are best left untouched.  In recent months, however, we’ve been discussing risotto more frequently so I decided that for New Year’s Eve we would eat some squash risotto.  I’ve only made risotto a couple times in the past, but had a pretty good idea on what I wanted in the dish.  I have to say that this dish turned out really well- I hope that you enjoy it as much as we did.

The grocery didn’t have much squash on hand, so I picked up two Delicata squash.  These are really delicious squash that are vibrant yellow with green stripes.  They worked perfectly for the dish simply because they don’t have much interior flesh so nothing went to waste with this dish.  I also used a standard arborio rice which is important when making risotto.  Long grain or other rice will not cook properly- be sure that you find arborio.  The last suggestion that should be made for this dish is to use homemade chicken stock if you have it available.  The depth of flavor will be greatly increased over using store bought stock.  If you don’t have any homemade stock, be sure to find low or no sodium chicken stock.

Makes enough squash risotto for eight people as a side.

Ingredients:

2 Delicata or other small squash

1/2 cup of water

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1/2 medium Spanish onion, diced

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

2 cloves garlic, minced

1.5 cups arborio rice

8 cups chicken stock (you may not use it all)

2 tablespoons fresh thyme, chopped fine

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, loosely packed

Salt & Fresh Cracked Pepper

Fire up the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the squash in half and scoop out all the seeds and other gunk in there. Discard. Take out a baking sheet and lay the squash halves cut side down on the sheet. Pour the 1/2 cup of water onto the sheet and toss in the oven when it is at temperature. Cook for about 40-45 minutes or until cooked through. You’ll know they are cooked through when you press the skin and you feel no resistance. Flip the squash cut side up and set aside to cool.

Take out a large sauce pan or skillet. Keep in mind that we are going to be doing a lot of stirring for this recipe, so sharp cornered pans should be avoided. Put the pan over medium heat, add the butter and 1 teaspoon (or so) of Canola or olive oil. When the pan is hot, toss in the onions and cook for about seven minutes or until translucent. Add in the cumin and stir for about a minute. This will start toasting the cumin, so make sure that you are stirring. This step releases a lot of flavor into the dish.

Next, toss in the garlic and stir for another minute. Now, add in the Arborio rice. You want to brown the rice a little before you start adding the chicken stock. Again, this step is in here to build more flavor into the dish. Just be sure that your heat isn’t too high (you want to hear some sizzle) and that you are stirring.

Okay, once the rice is a bit golden, let’s start adding the stock. My suggestion is to have the stock in a bowl next to the stove. Use a 1/2 cup measure to ladle the stock into the pan. Start with the first 1/2 cup- you will get a LOT of sizzle on this one and it will absorb very quickly, so be ready with the second 1/2 cup. Stir, stir, stir. Once the liquid has mostly evaporated and been absorbed, add another 1/2 cup. Continue with this process until the rice begins to thicken and doesn’t absorb as much liquid.

Now, you want to taste every now and again. If the rice still has some tooth left on it (feels uncooked when you sample it) continue cooking and add chicken stock sparingly. Once it has reached the desired consistency and is cooked, remove the risotto from the heat.

Scoop the flesh out of the squash and put it in a bowl. Mash it around with the back of a fork until all chunks are smooth. Add the squash to the risotto until completely incorporated. If the risotto looks a little thick, put it back on low heat and add chicken stock sparingly. Add in the cheese and the fresh chopped thyme. Stir. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper. This is a rice and squash dish, so it might need a considerable amount of salt as both of these ingredients like the sodium.

For a vegetarian version, use vegetable broth rather than the chicken stock.  It might not have quite as much richness, but it will still be delicious.  In any event, I hope that you take the time to make this recipe.  It’s really tasty!  Enjoy.

Squash risotto with some duck confit and chasseur sauce. Yumm.