Kitchen Adventures; Butternut Squash Risotto

I don't know about you, but I spend a lot of time online... like, a lot.

It's an everyday challenge for me not to spend my entire paycheck online shopping for anything and everything that caught my attention

This means near daily checkups on my favorite shops, including - of course - Anthropologie. Did anyone else notice the link to their magazine on their website? I stumbled onto it by accident. Didn't mean to hover over the magazine link when I saw a picture of a vibrant orange squash and the words Winter Squash Risotto.

Oh. My. Gooooooooooosh.

So, I made it. I had to, really. There was no escape.

Let's start with some lemon-sage oil. Have to be ready.

Oil and sage leaves go in a pan on the stove.

Lemon gets zested, and parsley is chopped.

Once the oil and sage leaves are cooled, everything gets blended together and poured through a sieve.

Goodbye leaves of parsley and sage! We only want you for your flavah!

Then you can get started on the squash.

I love squash so so much, and I think butternut is my favorite. It's got that wonderful warm nuttyness without the bitter taste that some kinds of squash leave in your mouth.

I got a little excited and chopped up an entire butternut squash before looking at the recipe and realizing I only needed about 2 cups. Oops. That will be easy to save and use later.

Chopped squash, olive oil, salt & pepper go on a pan and into the oven.

Look how pretty, when they are just a little crispy, but mostly nice and soft. Yum yum yum.

Now is a good time to crunchify the prosciutto. Put the slices in a skillet and let them hang out on the neat until they're nice and crunchy.

Then let them cool before you chop them up into little crunchy pieces.

Chop shallots and green onions. Don't worry. They won't make you cry. :)

Put them in a pot with olive oil and cook them until tender, but not browned.

Add the rice and stir it around a bit.

Add the SQUAAAASH! Mix it all around.

Then, one or two ladles at a time, add broth or stock. Let it absorb and cook off before adding more.

Don't plan on leaving the kitchen. The rice will suck up all the liquid as soon as you look away.

When all the broth has been added and cooked off and into the rice, add some wonderful flavorful chopped prosciutto, parmesan, and marscapone, and mix it all in.

Drizzle it with the sage lemon oil and serve it with a steak or chicken and some more yummy green vegetables.

You can totally swap out the chicken broth for vegetable broth and skip the prosciutto for a veggie-friendly version.

You can also just eat it by itself. Yum yum yum.

Recipe adapted from Anthropologie Magazine

Lemon-Sage Oil

8 fresh sage leaves
1/2 c. olive oil
2 Tbsp chopped parsley
1 tsp. lemon zest

Heat the olive oil in a small saucepan. Add the sage leaves and let them mingle for a little while. When the leaves start to curl, remove from the heat and allow to cool.
Once cooled, combine with parsley and lemon zest in a blender and BLEND!
Pour the oil mixture through a sieve to catch all the leaves and set aside.

Butternut Squash Risotto

2 lbs chopped squash (1/2 in. cubes)
6 slices of prosciutto
6 cups chicken broth or stock
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 1/2 c. rice (I used Basmati, recipe called for Arborio)
1 c. dry white wine
1 oz. parmesan cheese
1 oz. marscapone cheese
1 large shallot, minced
1 bunch of green onions (about 5), chopped

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Give the squash a light coat of olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, then get your hands in there and evenly coat the squash cubes with oil.
Then bake for about 30 minutes, or until the edges start to caramelize.

Cook the prosciutto in a small skillet until crunchy. Then remove from the heat and allow to cool before chopping.

In a large pot, heat the chicken broth/stock. Keep on medium low heat so it is hot when you're ready for it.

In a large pot, over medium heat, cook the shallots and green onions in olive oil until tender, but not browned. Add the rice and stir. Add the roasted squash cubes and stir. Add the white wine and cook until it evaporates/absorbs into the rice. Then add about a cup of broth/stock. Once it's absorbed, add a ladle or two, allow to absorb, and repeat until all of the broth is absorbed into the rice.

Remove from heat and add the parmesan, marscapone, and prosciutto. Stir until well incorporated.

Serve hot with a drizzle of lemon sage oil.

YUM!