Risotto With Roasted Winter Squash Recipes

RISOTTO WITH WINTER SQUASH AND COLLARD GREENS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with foil. Toss the squash with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and spread on the baking sheet in an even layer. Place in the oven, and roast for 30 to 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes until tender and caramelized. Remove from the heat.
• While the squash is roasting, blanch the collard greens. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Fill a bowl with ice water. When the water comes to a boil, salt generously and add the collard greens. Blanch for four minutes and transfer to the ice water with a slotted spoon or skimmer. Drain and squeeze out extra water. Chop coarsely, or cut in ribbons.
• Bring the stock to a simmer in a saucepan. Heat the remaining oil over medium heat in a large, heavy nonstick frying pan or a wide saucepan, and add the onion. Cook, stirring, until the onion begins to soften, about three minutes, and add the garlic and about 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring, until the onion is tender and the garlic fragrant, about one minute, and add the rice. Cook, stirring, until the grains of rice are separate.
• Stir in the wine, and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly. The wine should bubble but not too quickly. When the wine has just about evaporated, add the collard greens, a third of the squash and the saffron. Stir in a ladleful or two of the simmering stock, enough to just cover the rice. The stock should bubble slowly. Cook, stirring often, until it is just about absorbed. Add another ladleful of the stock, and continue to cook in this fashion -- not too fast and not too slowly, adding more stock when the rice is almost dry -- until the rice is tender all the way through but still chewy, 20 to 25 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings.
• Add the remaining roasted squash and another 1/2 cup of stock to the rice. Stir in the Parmesan and parsley, and remove from the heat. Add freshly ground pepper, taste one last time and adjust salt. The mixture should be creamy (add more stock if it is not). Serve right away in wide soup bowls or on plates, spreading the risotto in a thin layer rather than a mound.

BAKED RISOTTO WITH WINTER SQUASH

Steps:

• Peel squash and cut into very thin slices, 1/16-inch thick. Then cut slices into flat 2-inch squares. (Reserve the scraps, including peels, to make squash stock if desired.)
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add rice and let simmer for 8 minutes so it is parcooked, with the grains still hard in the center. Drain rice in a colander, rinse with cold water, then spread on a baking sheet to cool. Heat oven to 375 degrees.
• In a Dutch oven, melt 4 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add leek and saffron, if using, and stir to coat. When leek is softened but still green, after 2 minutes, add squash, stir to coat and turn off heat. Season well with salt and pepper.
• Add parcooked rice, hot broth, Gruyère, ricotta, Parmesan and lemon zest, mixing gently with a wooden spoon. Pour rice mixture into a buttered 3-quart baking dish.
• Sprinkle top with bread crumbs, pressing down to smooth surface. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Tent with foil if necessary. Garnish with parsley just before serving.

RISOTTO WITH ROASTED WINTER SQUASH

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Cover a baking sheet with foil. Toss the squash with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and spread on the baking sheet in an even layer. Place in the oven and roast for 30 to 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, until tender and caramelized. Remove from the heat.
• Bring the stock to a simmer in a saucepan.
• Heat the remaining oil over medium heat in a large, heavy nonstick frying pan or a wide saucepan and add the onion. Cook, stirring, until the onion begins to soften, about 3 minutes, and add one third of the squash, the garlic, and about 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring, until the onion is tender and the garlic fragrant, about 1 minute, and add the rice. Cook, stirring, until the grains of rice are separate.
• Stir in the wine and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly. The wine should bubble, but not too quickly. When the wine has just about evaporated, stir in a ladleful or two of the simmering stock, enough to just cover the rice and squash. The stock should bubble slowly. Cook, stirring often, until it is just about absorbed. Add the sage and another ladleful of the stock, and continue to cook in this fashion, not too fast and not too slowly, adding more stock when the rice is almost dry, for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the rice is cooked al dente. Taste and adjust seasonings.
• Add the remaining roasted squash and another 1/2 cup of stock to the rice. Stir in the Parmesan and parsley, and immediately remove from the heat. Add freshly ground pepper, taste one last time and adjust salt. The rice should be creamy. Serve at once.

ROASTED ACORN SQUASH STUFFED WITH RISOTTO

Steps:

• For the squash: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Divide 3 of the squash lengthwise and remove the seeds. Place the 6 squash halves cut-side up in a large, high-sided ovenproof skillet or pot (you may need to do this in batches or two pots). Sprinkle the cut sides all over with salt, then pour the milk into the cavities, filling halfway. Pour water into the pot until it reaches halfway up the sides of the squash. Carefully place in the oven and roast uncovered until fork-tender, 35 to 40 minutes.
• Meanwhile, peel, seed and dice the remaining squash. Place in a roasting pan along with the olive oil and a pinch of salt. Toss and roast until fork-tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
• For the risotto: Add the olive oil to a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until they are translucent, about 2 minutes. Add the rice and stir to coat with the olive oil and onion mixture. Add the white wine and stir until the liquid has absorbed, about 5 minutes. Add the broth, 1/2 cup at a time, and stir until all the liquid has absorbed before adding another 1/2 cup. (This process will take approximately 25 minutes and the risotto will become creamy from the starch releasing.) When all of the liquid has been added and absorbed, stir in the Parmesan and the roasted, diced squash. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (If the risotto seems too dry, just add some more broth).
• Stuff the roasted squash halves with the risotto and serve.

ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH RISOTTO

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a medium bowl, toss the squash with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Spread in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet and roast until golden and caramelized at the edges, stirring at least once, 40 to 55 minutes. Let cool.
• Bring the vegetable stock to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce the heat and maintain at a bare simmer.
• Heat the remaining 4 tablespoons oil in a large, high-sided, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook until soft, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic; cook just until it releases its fragrance, about 30 seconds, then add the rice and stir to coat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Stir in the wine and cook until almost completely evaporated. Reduce the heat to medium-low and add a ladleful of stock; cook, stirring constantly, until almost completely absorbed. Add another ladleful; again, cook, stirring, until almost fully absorbed. Continue in this manner until the rice is creamy and al dente (tender but still firm to the bite), about 40 minutes--you may or may not use all the stock.
• Remove the risotto from the heat and stir in the Parmesan if using and the squash, reserving some cubes for garnish. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately, garnished with the reserved squash cubes.

WINTER SQUASH RISOTTO

Steps:

• Cut squash into medium size pieces, scrape out seeds and stringy flesh and discard. Steam cleaned pieces of squash for 10 to 15 minutes until tender. Remove skin and mash smooth. Place stock in a saucepan and heat until simmering. In a large heavy saucepan over medium heat, fry bacon piece until crisp. Remove bacon, leaving grease in the pan. Crumble bacon for use as a garnish and set aside. Add oil and shallots and cook for about 2 minutes. Stir in the rice and cook for 5 minutes over moderately high heat. Stir slowly but constantly. This will "toast" the rice and start to turn it slightly golden and feel loose and dry. You should start to hear the rice "click." Add the wine all at once to the rice and cook over fairly high heat to boil it down. When the rice is almost dry, stir in 1 cup of stock and mashed squash. Simmer until the sock is absorbed. Continue adding stock 1 cup at a time and stirring until rice becomes creamy while the grains remain separate and firm, but not hard in the center of the grain. This should take about 15 to 20 minutes. Add the nutmeg, salt, pepper and rosemary and stir. Stir in the butter and 1/2 cup Parmesan. Place in individual serving bowls and sprinkle with remaining cheese, crumbled bacon and a sprig of rosemary. Enjoy! Yield: 4 to 6 main course servings
• Hints for success: The pot must be heavy on the bottom to keep the temperature even during the cooking process. Arborio is a short grained rice. It is very starchy, which is necessary to produce the desired result of a creamy risotto. Look for a fat opaque center in the rice, known as "LaPerla," this indicates a good starch content. Wine is the first liquid to be added to the rice. The first liquid will be absorbed totally and the acid in the wine balances the starch and adds flavor.
• Toasting the rice seals in the flavor. There should be about 3 times the amount of stock as rice. Make sure the stock is very hot. The stock is added slowly to the rice and releases the starch gradually, creating a creamy texture. Constant stirring is needed to produce the best results

ROASTED SQUASH RISOTTO WITH WENSLEYDALE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Toss the squash in the oil in a roasting tin and roast for 15-20 mins until tender and golden. With 4-5 mins to go, toss the pumpkin seeds with a little salt, make a little space amongst the squash and spread out the seeds, then finish roasting. Remove half the squash and purée or mash, and keep the rest warm in a very low oven until ready to serve.
• Meanwhile, soften the onion and garlic in the butter in a frying pan. Stir in the rice for 1-2 mins. Add the wine and cook, stirring, until the wine has evaporated. Add the hot stock, a ladleful at a time, stirring until each addition is almost completely absorbed. Once all the stock has been added, the rice should be tender and creamy. Stir in the puréed or mashed squash until warm, then season if you like. Serve in shallow bowls, scatter over the reserved roasted squash, crumbled cheese, chives and pumpkin seeds.