Butternut squash risotto
Risotto an Italian rice dish cooked in a broth to a creamy consistency which has gained the reputation of the "death dish" in MasterChef series. Risotto may be associated with fancy restaurants but it is actually a one pot dish with serves as a comfort food delight to Italians.
A creamy risotto making itself a main course, with some grilled vegetables or meat is the easiest way to smarten up the dinner parties. The variations for making a risotto are endless nevertheless you follow some very basic rules.
What you'll need :
1/4 cup salted butter
1 small shallot, minced
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 cup Arborio rice
1/2 cup white wine
4 cups warm water (chicken broth or vegetable broth)
3-4 tablespoons grated Parmesan
1 cup of chopped butternut squash
1 tsp dried thyme (or even italian seasoning)
How to :
Prepare the butternut squash for flavouring
1. Cut the butternut squash into equal sized square pieces
2. In a non-stick pan, add very little butter and add sauté the squash pieces. Add some pepper and salt and let them sizzle in the hot pan. Turn off the heat as soon as the squash starts to release its liquid and keep it aside
For the risotto
1. Start off by mincing a shallot. They should be fine so that you do not find big pieces of onions in the dish. Melt the unsalted butter in a heavy pan and sauté the minced shallot. Enhance the flavour by adding your own flavourings like saffron (usually added to the broth. Make sure that the onions are slightly translucent and not over sautéed and turning brownish
2. Add Arborio rice, dry thyme to the pan and stir until it starts clicking to the bottom of the pan
3. Stirring the rice will prevent it from sticking to each other and maintain its shape
4. Add white wine (optional) and stir it until all the wine has been absorbed
5. Now add 3 cup of water (broth) to the rice along with some parmesan cheese (2 tbsp)
6. Allow it to simmer for about 15 minutes. By the end of 15 minutes, you find that the rice is almost cooked. Stir the mixture and add a quarter cup of water and stir the mixture constantly to release the starch from the rice. Turn off and add the remaining water, a piece of butter and some grated cheese. Stir well and allow to sit for about 5 minutes. The residual heat will continue to cook the rice a bit so you need to remove the pan from the heat while the rice is still nutty
7. If you want to add any flavouring to the plain risotto always do it at the end. Add the cooked butternut squash and stir the mixture
8. Add more butter (if you wish) and adjust the salt & pepper. Remember that you will sprinkle some parmesan cheese before serving
Here is another variation to the risotto - brown rice risotto with sautéed mushrooms. Since brown rice (not the basmati brown rice) takes longer time to cook, it's best to cook the brown rice separately and then make a risotto. The only change is, you need to add only 1/2 cup water as the rice is already cooked and you can totally get away with the stirring of the raw rice.
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