recipe: butternut squash risotto

I mentioned last week that our vegetarian Thanksgiving dinner was butternut squash risotto, cornmeal spoon bread, green beans with toasted almonds, cranberry sauce and caramel pecan pie. I've already posted the pie recipe, and I decided the spoon bread wasn't good enough to recommend to y'all. But I will endorse the risotto. And since it's almost December, if you're gonna make it, you better make it soon, while it's still fall.

I'm posting this recipe toward the end of the week in case you're looking for something to make over the weekend. This risotto is great, but it's kind of involved, so it's better to make when you have some time on your hands. Not exactly a weeknight-friendly meal.

Butternut Squash Risotto

Adapted from America's Test Kitchen

• 1 medium butternut squash
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
• 3/4 teaspoon pepper, divided
• 4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
• 1 cup water
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
• 1 1/2 cups minced onions (about 2 small onions) 
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic (about 2 medium cloves) 
• 2 cups arborio rice
• 1 1/2 cups dry white wine
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh sage
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Peel the butternut squash. Remove the fibers and seeds and set aside. (An ice cream scoop works well for this.) Cut squash into 1/2-inch cubes for a total of 3 1/2 cups. Reserve any remaining squash with the fibers and seeds.

Heat olive oil in a skillet. Add squash in an even layer and cook without stirring for 5 minutes until squash is golden brown. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cook 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally, until squash is tender and brown. Transfer squash to a bowl, cover with foil, and set aside.

Return empty skillet to medium heat, add squash fibers, seeds and leftover diced squash. Cook 4 minutes until lightly browned. Transfer to large saucepan. Add broth and water. Cover sauce pan and bring mixture to a simmer over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low to maintain a light simmer.

Melt 3 tablespoons butter in the skillet over medium heat. Add onions, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Cook 5 minutes until onions are soft.

Add rice to the skillet and cook 3 minutes, stirring frequently, until grains are translucent around the edges. Add wine and cook 5 minutes, stir frequently, until liquid is fully absorbed.

Strain broth through fine mesh strainer into a medium bowl, pressing on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Throw the solids away.

Return strained broth to sauce pan, cover, and set over low heat to keep hot.

When wine is fully absorbed, add 3 cups broth and 1/2 of the reserved squash to rice. Simmer about 12 minutes, stirring every 3 to 4 minutes until liquid is absorbed and pan is almost dry. 

Stir in 1/2 cup broth and cook 3 minutes, stirring constantly until absorbed. Repeat with additional broth until rice is cooked through but grains are somewhat firm at center.

Off heat, stir in remaining 1 tablespoon butter, cheese, sage and nutmeg. Gently fold in remaining reserved squashed. If desired, add up to 1/4 cup more broth to loosen texture of risotto.

Serves like 20. Or seems like it. Let's say it serves 8. We had risotto coming out of our ears for days.

Sidenote: I divided the risotto in half and only added cheese to Tony's half to keep mine dairy-free. He tasted both and said they tasted exactly the same.

P.S. As you can see, we are a Canned Cranberry Sauce Family. I know there are some Homemade Cranberry Sauce Families out there, and there's no judgement over here. We can coexist despite our fundamental differences. No shame.

recipes: stuffed acorn squash & roasted acorn squash seeds

I don't usually buy fall squash (of the butternut, spaghetti and acorn varieties) because I'm never sure how to prepare them. Then I came across this recipe, and it looked so fun that I had to try it.

If you want to do a little cooking this weekend, this is a good fall recipe. It takes a little time to prepare, so it'd be a good choice for Sunday dinner.

We had these puppies when Mike, Jen and Jamie came over for dinner a couple of weeks ago, and they were a hit.

Stuffed Acorn Squash

Adapted from America's Test Kitchen

• 2 acorn squash
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1 cup couscous
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1 cup water
• 1 onion
• 4 garlic cloves
• 6 ounces spinach
• 1/2 cup pine nuts
• 3/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese

Cut the acorn squash in half lengthwise. Remove the seeds. As Jen demonstrates, an ice cream scoop does the trick.

Brush flesh of squash with 1 tablespoon olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place squash, flesh side down, on a plate and microwave 12-16 minutes until they are tender.

Begin toasting pine nuts in a pan over low heat, stirring occasionally.

Boil water, 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 teaspoon salt. Mix couscous and raisins in a bowl, then add boiling water and stir. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit 5 minutes. Fluff with fork when water is absorbed.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet. Add chopped onion and cook for 5 minutes. Add minced garlic and cook another minute. Add spinach and cook 2 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in couscous, toasted pine nuts, 1/2 cup cheese and salt and pepper to taste.

Place squash, flesh side up, on a baking sheet. Divide the couscous mixture among the 4 squash halves and pack down lightly. 

Top with remaining 1/4 cup cheese.

Place baking sheet on middle rack and broil 4 minutes.

Serves 4.

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Bonus recipe!

The seeds in acorn squash can be roasted, just like pumpkin seeds. They're slightly smaller, and I think they're slightly more tender. I actually prefer acorn squash seeds over pumpkin seeds. (Tony says pumpkin seeds have the advantage.)

Roasted Acorn Squash Seeds

• Acorn squash seeds
• Salt

Use an ice cream scoop or spoon to remove the seeds from your acorn squash. Wash away all of the gooey squash guts.

Place seeds on cookie sheets. Sprinkle with salt and toss with a rubber spatula to coat. Ensure seeds are in a single layer.

Bake at 275 degrees for 30 minutes or until seeds are dried out, stirring once.

the garden: sad squash dead

Ben asked me a few weeks ago how I rank myself as a gardener, on a scale of 1 to 10. I gave myself a 4. I've got the basics down. Plant it. Water it. Fertilize it. Weed it. Eat it.

But the more complicated stuff? Soil pH testing. Grow lights. Insect defense. I don't even know where to begin. And I'm not sure I'd even want to take my hobby to the next level and invest so much time and money into all of that. At some point that would defeat one of the best things about gardening: inexpensive food.

My latest garden failure? My yellow squash plant.

I started it from seed in the spring, and it was doing well in its pot. I harvested exactly one squash, if you remember. And then it got covered with these disgusting squash bugs. I tried to kill them with Sevin dust. (I know, I know -- don't lecture me about pesticides.) But in the end, the bugs won, the plant shriveled up and died, and I am sad.

I suppose I'll try again next year. (I still have an almost-full packet of seeds, after all.) Lesson learned? Apparently you have to pick the squash bugs off, one by one. So I'll have to kill those things as soon as I see them. (But let's be real. I'm not going to be touching any bugs. That sentence should read: "Send my husband outside to kill those things as soon as I see them.")

So I'm bummed about the squash. But at least I have about a dozen tomatoes in my kitchen window to remind me that my garden has had successes along with the failures!

recipe: fried squash

Hello there, squash. So nice to eat you. 

I picked the first squash from my garden this week, and Tony and I ate it as a side dish with our Fourth of July dinner. In true American fashion, I took this completely healthy vegetable ... and fried it. 

Fried Squash

• 1 medium yellow squash
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup cornmeal 
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil for frying

Slice squash to desired thickness, around 1/4-inch to 1/8-inch. Whisk egg in bowl, and dip squash into egg wash. In separate bowl, mix cornmeal, salt and pepper, and coat squash with cornmeal.  

Heat olive oil in large frying pan over medium heat, and fry squash until golden brown, a few minutes per side. Remove from frying pan and set on paper towels to drain excess oil. One medium squash will make enough for 2 to 3 people as a side dish.  

There's the finished product, accompanying burgers and potato salad.

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Tony and I took advantage of the mid-week holiday to catch up on Season 4 of True Blood on DVD. Then we made the best of the hot weather by going for a swim at Camille and Matt's place. Where we were greeted by Gibbs, who is a patriot indeed. 

After dinner, Tony and I walked over to Lincoln Park, where folks were setting off very large firecrackers right in the park, which was slightly alarming but also cool. We also had a pretty decent view of the Capitol building and the National Mall fireworks show. You can see both shows in this photo:   

Happy Fourth of July!