Butternut Squash Risotto

Squash Risotto With Basmati Rice

Butternut Squash Risotto – Easy Supper

Squash or indeed any risotto is an easy solution if you are ever stuck for what to have for dinner, and you have some meat or vegetables that you are not sure what to do with. The delightful thing about a risotto is that the basic risotto bit is always the same and the variety of items you can add is almost infinite!

Risotto is a one pot meal – so saves on energy and on washing up! It is a great option for using left over vegetables or meat. Variety can always be introduced by using herbs or spices to change the flavours. Sage is used in this recipe as it seems to go so well with squash.

Risotto is such an adaptable dish, being a base for so many dishes both meat-based and vegetarian. And all can be cooked in one pot too!

Low Cost Meal

A risotto can be very low cost and is still filling and nutritous. Traditionally made with short grain, starchy, risotto rice otherwise known as arborio rice it can be made with long grain or basmati rice. All these rice types are normally available in supermarkets.

f you always make sure you have some rice in your cupboard, an onion and some cheese, you will always be able to rustle up a meal adding meat or vegetables, according to what you have.

For example Chicken Risotto is a great way to use up the meat leftover from a Sunday lunch, Christmas dinner or celebratory meal. It is an excellent meal to put together when you don’t have much time or if you need to feed unexpected guests. Clearly it can be vegetarian but remember that Parmesan is not a cheese suitable for vegetarians – you will need to use a vegetarian Italian type hard cheese.

Squash Risotto

I used a crown prince squash when I made a Roasted Squash With Vegetables and still had lots left over so a risotto was an obvious recipe to try. But more usually you would use a butternut squash. Keeping it very simple I made a basic risotto and roasted the squash in the oven to be added to the risotto once it was cooked. So I suppose that makes it a two pot meal – but still very easy and so very delicious!

When making risotto with arborio rice, there is no need to wash it. In fact it is very important not to, as it is the starch in the rice that helps give risotto a creamy consistency. The amount of rice you use will depend upon how hungry you are but 75g-100g is a rough guideline. A little white wine can be added for flavour, if liked, just use a little less stock to compensate.

It seems that risotto in Italy was traditionally served as a ‘starter’ course, although nowadays is just as likely to be served as a main course in Italy as it is elsewhere. The majority of European rice is grown in Italy. Which surprised me a little as for me anyway, Italy is certainly not the first country you think of when I think of rice growing.