Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Jan 26th - Butternut Squash and Chestnut Risotto


Butternut Squash and Chestnut Risotto

Original Feb 10th

2-3 cups diced butternut squash
3/4 -1 cup chopped chestnut
I am purposely ball parking the filler because you should play around with it as much as you like. D is conservative with the veg so the beginning of the range is his measurements.
1c (1/2 c Arborio rice per person)
1.5-2 l stock, using dried, all natural, no sodium veggie stock
Now this is legitmately a ballpark. You may need more or less depending on your rice or how hard you like the rice. I like it softer.
3 sprigs of fresh thyme (you can use 1t of dry)
1 large shallot
1c white wine
Butter!
Fresh parmesan

Roast the chestnuts and chop to the size of pine nuts or chocolate chips.(see Feb10th for instructions) Set aside.

In a large fry pan fry the squash in butter until just tender and set aside (5-7 minutes) trick is to use a large pan so the veg is not crowded and is mostly in 1 layer.

In the same pan add some olive oil and butter, about 1 T each. Add the shallot and saute for about a minute until just softened. Add the Rice and the thyme. Stir until all the rice is coated and shimmering and slightly toasted.

Add a ladle of stock and stir until it is almost completely absorbed. Add another and another until it's all done the same way. It'll be about half an hour at least. Taste it to see if it is the texture you like. When you're one ladle away, turn the heat off, add about 1/2 cup of freshly grated parmesan.add the ladle add the veg back and cover for a few minutes (this last bit is optional). Add 1 last pat of butter to finish. Salt and pepper to taste. YOu may not need any salt depending on your stock.

Serve with freshly grated parmesan.

D chopped the squash slightly bigger to say half inch rather than 1 cm cubes this time and the chestnuts a bit chunkier. It was wonderful this way. Though the only reason the chestnuts were chunkier was because they cooked well so we had whole chestnuts to chop rather than chestnut 'dust' from trying to extract stubborn to open chestnuts :^).

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