Martha's Butternut Squash Risotto

On my quest for canned pumpkin, I found REAL pumpkins (more on this later) right at the French Market as well as some butternut squash! I decided to grab the squash on a whim, and then I started looking up recipes... and then I bought some Parmesan and some white wine... So, I made some Butternut Squash Risotto. I decided to use Martha Stewart's recipe because it looked pretty simple (as far as risotto goes, since it's a naturally annoying and time consuming thing to make).
First off, make sure that the white wine you buy is one that you'll enjoy drinking as well. I got a good recommendation from the dudes at Pastoral for the dry white wine (and Parmesan) part of the recipe, and was able to sip this wine the entire time I was stirring the risotto (which was a looong time). Plus, I liked the name a lot!

 

You should also be aware that this will lead to a really messy and dirty kitchen, proof:

But that's beside the point of this post. This was a very tasty and delicious dish and I highly recommend it to everyone! Here goes:

Martha's Butternut Squash Risotto

Recipe slightly adapted from Martha Stewart

What You'll Need:

• LOTS of butter (I used about 2-3 tablespoons)
• 1.5 lbs of Butternut Squash (peeled, seeded and diced into 1/2 inch chunks)
• Coarse salt and pepper
• 1 cup Arborio rice
• 3/4 cup white wine
• 3 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1/3 cup parmesan
• 1 tablespoon fresh chopped sage

First, start warming up your chicken broth (first on high heat, then on low to keep it warm while you're cooking/stirring)

While the chicken broth is warming up, peel, seed and dice your butternut squash and set aside. Melt 1.5 tablespoons of butter in a big, deep pan.

 Throw Squash in pan. Stir.

Add in coarse salt and pepper, keep stirring and cook for about 8 mins, until the edges soften.

 

Add rice, stir to coat. It'll look like there's way too much squash compared to the amount of rice but don't worry!

Throw in the wine and stir until all the liquid has evaporated, about 1 to 2 mins.

Reduce heat to medium-low and throw in 1/2 cup of warm chicken broth. Cook, stirring, until all liquid is absorbed. Repeat, 1/2 cup at a time until all broth is gone (35-40 mins total).

In the meantime, grate your parmesan if need be and chop up your sage.

When you have used up all of your chicken broth, throw in parmesan and sage. Stir for a minute or two then serve immediately. Top with extra sage and parmesan for garnish and enjoy!

Serves about 4.

P.S. Andrew toasted the squash seeds and they were delicious! Just preheat your oven to 275 degrees, place seeds on tin foil and top with salt and olive oil (we used truffle oil) to taste. Put the seeds in the oven and bake for about 15 mins!