This past summer, we dumped some butternut squash seeds around the garden at the farm. By the end of the season, we were practically drowning in butternut squash. Thankfully, the hardy gourd can easily be stored in a cool dry place and last for months.
After clearing a few shelves in our basement storage area for our bounty, I grabbed my computer and spent a couple of hours on the internet for squash recipes for inspiration. I hope to share a couple of them with you over the next few weeks here on the blog. So let’s get our quash on!
The first one that I am sharing is a risotto with roasted squash, sage and hints of maple syrup. The recipe calls for roasting the diced butternut squash with some maple syrup and adding it into the risotto.
So let’s get our squash on!
- 1 butternut squash cleaned and cut into small cubes
- 12 sage leaves, chopped plus more for garnish
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ cup maple smoked bacon cut into lardon (small strips)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 medium onion, small dice
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 cups arborio rice
- ¾ cups dry white wine
- 5 cups chicken stock, warm
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated plus more for serving
- ½ cup mascarpone cheese (optional)
- Vegetable oil for frying sage leaves
- Heat oven to 375 degrees.
- Toss butternut squash, chopped sage leaves, maple syrup, olive oil and a pinch of salt. Spread on a baking sheet. Place in the oven and roast for about 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, render the fat from the bacon over medium-low heat in a heavy bottomed pot. Cook till fat is rendered and bacon is crispy. Remove from the pot with a slotted spoon and set aside. Leave fat in the pot.
- Add the onions and cook for a couple of minutes till translucent. Add the garlic, season with salt and pepper and cook for another 30 seconds. If there is not enough fat in the pot, add the 2 tablespoons of butter. Then add the rice and make sure to coat each grain with fat and cook for a minute or two.
- Add the wine. Let the wine cook away and begin slowly adding one or two ladles of stock to the rice while continuously stirring. Once the liquid is mostly absorbed, add more stock and continue the process until the rice is cooked. This will take about 18 minutes. Turn the heat off.
- Remove the squash from the oven and add it to the rice with the Parmesan and gently fold everything together.
- Heat a small pan of vegetable oil and fry the sage leaves for about 5 seconds and remove onto paper towels. The leaves will crisp up once cooled.
- Plate the risotto, top with a dollop of mascarpone, extra Parmesan cheese and a couple of the fried sage leaves. Serve immediately.
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