Risotto with Roasted Butternut Squash and Mushrooms

So decadent and well worth the effort and process.  All though not difficult, making risotto is a time consuming process.  You really have to get all of your ingredients prepared before beginning to cook the rice, as once the rice begins to cook it requires your undivided attention.  All of this effort is fine by me, as I find it to be relaxing and stress relieving.  If you're like me, risotto is right for you.  I've posted a few renditions on this blog,

For our one year anniversary (yes!  It's been a year already!!) we went out to eat at one of our favorite restaurants, but this time, we ordered on the more expensive end of the menu instead of just sandwiches (which are also fabulous, but also more comfortably priced for a graduate student).  My meat eating husband had a steak that he declared to be wonderful.  I had risotto very similar to this-- the only difference being the addition of kale.  I meant for this recipe to have kale as well, but alas, I thought there was kale in the fridge and it turned out not to be true.  But this recipe is still fantastic as is.  And if you're into kale as much as I am, then you can add it to this recipe.

I suggest if you haven't made risotto before, read all of the directions before beginning.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1 large onion, very finely minced
1 cup white wine
12-14 cups vegetable stock (cheater stock, see how I made it below)
1 butternut squash, pealed, seeded, and cubed (about 0.5 inch cubes)
1 pound mushrooms, sliced
1 cup grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons butter
salt and pepper
1/2 cup chopped parsley (optional)

Directions

Get all of the pieces ready to go before starting the process.  The actually cooking process of the rice itself takes about 20 minutes or so of CONSTANT attention.  Don't plan on doing anything else while the rice is cooking, and this is important. If you're going through all of this effort, you don't want to screw it up because you weren't stirring it constantly.

First, get the vegetable stock hot and ready.  I made a cheater broth as follows:  I took 10-12 cups of water, and added the appropriate amount of vegetable bullion cubes to this.  I supplemented with other veggies-  this time around, I took two small unpeeled onions, and cut them in half and put them in the broth to cook.  I also took 5 unpeeled cloves of garlic and threw them in.  I added 1 or 2 tablespoons of thyme, and some salt and pepper.  You can add any vegetable pealing, to enrich the broth.  Before using, you can either strain out all of the veggie pieces, or just maneuver around the chunks with a ladle like I did this time.  All the while KEEP THIS COVERED, as you'll loose a fair amount of liquid just by the evaporation process.  Indeed, it's a good idea to make extra broth which you can always use for other purposes throughout the week.

Second (while the broth is getting hot), get everything read to go before you start the risotto process:  Take the cubed squash, toss with olive oil and salt and pepper, place in a 9x13 pan and roast in a 350 degree oven until soft but not mushy, stirring occasionally.  You want the squash to retain it's shape.  If you overcook it, it's really not a big deal, but in this case I would really overcook it until you can make a puree out of it, and then fold it as a puree after the risotto is finished.  When done, take the squash out of the oven, and cover with foil lightly to keep it warm until you're ready to use it.

Third (while the squash is cooking, and the broth is going), get the mushrooms cooking down:  Heat some olive oil and a tablespoon of butter in a pan.  Add the mushrooms and some salt and pepper, and cover.  Get the mushrooms really wilting, and then remove the cover and let the liquid evaporate.  When the mushrooms are ready, turn the heat off and cover them to keep them warm until ready to use.

OK- You're ready to start the risotto!

In a dutch oven, or something very heavy bottomed, heat a few tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat.  Add the onion, and cook until translucent (5 minutes or so).  Add the rice, and toast slightly, about 5 minutes or so, stirring constantly.  The grains will start to look transparent around the edges.  Add the wine, and cook until liquid is mostly absorbed, but NOT close to drying out, stirring constantly.  At this point, add 2 ladles of broth, and cook (stirring constantly... you get the idea) until mostly absorbed (but not dry!  Never let it get dry!).  Continue this process of adding a ladle or two of broth at a time, and cooking until it's absorbed.  Adjust the heat as needed-- you want this simmering and bubbling relatively slowly and constantly, but not boiling quickly.  In all, it will take around 20 minutes for the rice to be fully cooked (the first few times I made this, it took considerably longer, as I was very conservative with my cooking temperature.  That's OK too, but if you're temperature is very low, this process quickly becomes a 30-40 minute one.)   When finished, remove the risotto from the heat.  Add the grated Parmesan, and 2 tablespoons of butter, stirring to incorporate.  Taste at this point for salt and add pepper.  Finally, fold in the squash, mushrooms, and parsley.  Prepare for bliss.  Serve with some crusty bread.