Monday, October 3, 2011

Obsession of the Day

I have never claimed to be a food blogger, but every once in awhile something crosses my taste buds that is so delicious I just HAVE to share. Last night I made a butternut squash risotto that was absolutely TO DIE FOR. I couldn't help but have two servings for dinner and just had another for lunch. If you make the recipe below [and I recommend you do] be warned that it makes a LOT. If you're going to serve it as a side dish, my guess is that you could get at LEAST 12 servings out of it. As a solo dish, you're still going to get 8 hearty bowlfuls. If you try it, let me know what you think!

Picture and Recipe courtesy of candcmarriagefactory.com

Ingredients:
7 cups (or more) chicken broth
3 tbsp butter (I used a tad bit more cause I'm a bad, bad Southern girl)
1 1/4 cups finely chopped onion
1 2-pound butternut squash, peeled, halved, seeded, cut into 1/2 to 3/4 inch dice (about 3 cups)
2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary, divided (I used dried rosemary and it worked just fine)
2 cups (about 13.5 oz) arborio rice (you, like I, may feel the need to add a bit more than this. That will not be necessary)
1/2 cup dry white wine (I had no white wine so substituted with lemon juice)
4 cups (packed) baby spinach leaves (about 4 oz) - I used frozen spinach, thawed it out and used only about 1 cup in the recipe
1/2 cup freshly ground Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese (about 1.5 oz)

Directions:
Bring 7 cups broth to boil in large saucepan. Cover and reduce heat to low.

Melt butter in a heavy large pot over medium heat. Add onion and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Add squash and 1 1/2 tsp rosemary, saute 4 minutes to coat with butter. (You may want to let the squash saute for a bit more than 4 minutes, depending on how caramelized you'd like it to be. I stuck to the 4 minutes and it turned out just fine, but I can only imagine what that extra flavor would have added to the dish.)

Add rice and stir 2 minutes. Add wine and simmer until evaporated, about 1 minute. Add 7 cups hot broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered until rice is just tender and risotto is creamy and slightly soupy, adding more broth by 1/4 cupfuls as needed to maintain consistency. (I did not add the additional 1/4 cups of broth and it was totally fine last night, but today, while still delicious, it was incredibly creamy and not at all soupy. Now, you don't want your risotto to be SOUP but a bit of liquid never hurt anyone. Next time I'll probably add at least an additional 1/4 of a cup of broth, even if I don't think I need it). Stir occasionally and simmer for about 18 minutes. Stir in spinach and parmesan cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Transfer risotto to large bowl. Sprinkle with blue cheese and remaining 1/2 tsp rosemary and serve.


And if you're interested in checking out some REAL food blogs, look no further than here and here.


No comments: