Butternut Squash Risotto

Squash is quite amazing, with so many varieties, the possibilities are endless.  Butternut is one of the most popular, available and in turn widely used squashes.

Risotto is such a simple dish to make.  It can be a side dish or a main meal, and it's flavour possibilities are infinite as well, since you can virtually add anything to go with the rice.

All you need for this dish, is a butternut squash, a cup of short-grained round or semi-round rice, such as Arborio, Vialone Nano, and Carnaroli.  Arborio rice is available at almost any supermarket.  A few leaves of fresh sage, about 1/3 cup of freshly grated parmigiano reggiano, s&p, 30 oz of stock - just under 4 cups, about 1/4 cup of white port and 1/4 cup water or 1/2 dry white wine.  Port has a much stronger taste, so I diluted it with water for this dish, since butternut squash has a mild flavour, I didn't want too much port to take over.  You can also skip the port or wine all together and just use extra water with the stock.

The hardest part is peeling and cutting the squash, but to make it a bit simpler, you can cut it into pieces first, slice off the skin, and use a spoon to get the seeds and stringy bits out, like this:

You'll need to cut it into about 1/2" cubes. 

Add to the melted butter, stir frequently and let it cook for about 10 minutes.  Then add 1 cup of rice, and stir so that it's coated.  If using wine or port, add that and cook until it gets absorbed.  Then add stock in about 1/2 cup amounts at a time, wait for the liquid to be absorbed, and stir in between.  At the end add the parm, sage, s&p, and serve right away, because it's best fresh off the stove.  This is not one of those dishes that you can make ahead of time.  My sage in the backyard still hasn't died, so I managed to get a few good looking leaves.

I used pink Himalayan crystals which I crushed a bit with a mortar and pestle, but you can use any good quality sea salt.  I just have some of the pink salt, so I sue it when ever I can.

I also use freshly ground black pepper, because it's more potent, so I don't need as much and I know how much I need, because I'm used to using freshly ground as opposed to pre-ground, which loses its strength over time.

This risotto was delicious, sweet, with a bit of tang.  Even James had 2 servings.  By the way, these amounts will yield about 4 servings as meals, more as side dishes.

So good and easy.  Perfect for a cold day.  Enjoy!