Squash Risotto with walnuts

It has been one week since I have returned from Italy and I am finally feeling like myself again.  Spent Saturday hitting the local scene at my favorite Farmers Market and then off to the Boston Local Food Festival.  I was astonished at the amount of people that were at the festival!  So many it was hard to move around and make sure you hit all the stands, but I think we did a good job.  At least I hit the most important two..Prana for a small plate of raw vegan food and Batch for salted caramel ice cream.  Both were fantastic!  I also had a bottle of pumpkin soda from Maine Root.  I am not a soda drinker, but it is October and pumpkin soda seemed like a must try.  It was a little too sweet for my taste, but I still enjoyed it!  

I think the massive crowd showed that people in this area love being outside on nice days, festivals and supporting the local scene.   Hopefully there will be many more of this type of event in the future!

Not to let the day over take the night...I was out with a great group in Central Sq. at the Asgard for extremely local brew...Rapscallion and truffle tater tots are a wonderful combination!  Needless to say all the activity lead to a lazy Sunday..which allowed me a lot of time to think about what to do with the carnival squash I bought at the market.

I was going to make soup, but did not think that would be filling enough.  Instead I went the road of a nice warm risotto.  I had some ideas but searched the web for some recipes anyway but nothing screamed "try me!".  I actually found it disturbing that all the recipes called for tons of cheese and butter...why even put the squash in?  All you will taste is fat and butter...not at all appealing.  That squash was just picked and is packed with flavor (and nutrients!).  That is what I wanted to taste, so I went a far healthier route and made up my own recipe.  I omitted butter and used minimal amounts oil and cheese.

From start to finish was about 1 hour and 15 minutes.   Now this seems long but good food sometimes takes time.  I find it relaxing to be in the kitchen after a long day to prepare a nice meal.  This is not always the case, but tonight was one of those nights that I just wanted to create and see what comes from it...what came about was a creamy, hearty and rather delicious meal.  

Ingredients:

1 carnival squash

1 1/2 cups of arborio rice 

4 cups of low sodium vegetable broth (water or chicken broth can sub easily)

fresh sage

2 teaspoons of oil

1/2 cup of walnuts

1/3 cup of parmigiana cheese (optional)

dash of nutmeg

To start, cut and deseed the squash.  The skin was extremely tough so once I cut it in half and took the seeds on, I popped it in the steamer as is.  It was far easier to remove the skin after it had softened.  It took about 15 minutes to steam.  

Once steamed, remove from skin, put in a food processor with a dash of nutmeg and puree.  Set aside until rice is almost done cooking.

While the squash steams, chopped the walnuts, minced sage and grated the cheese..I roasted the walnuts in the oven to bring out a nice flavor.

In a small pot, bring the broth to a simmer.

In a large pot add oil and sage and sauté for a a minute or two.  Add rice and mix to coat with oil and sage.  Let the rice cook for a few minutes until a bit toasted.  

Begin ladling in broth 1 or 2 at a time.   Stir the rice frequently and add more broth as the rice absorbs it. This will take the most time. Once the rice is a nice texture, not hard but not mushy either, add the squash puree, walnuts and cheese.  Stir together and let stand for a few minutes.  I roasted some brussels sprouts as a side dish!

Here is the end result...I really liked it and it was far healthier than any of the recipes I found.  

Stay happy and healthy! 

~L