This recipe is an healthy version of the traditional butternut squash risotto made with butter and cheese and other yummy fats. It is anyway as creamy and flavourful as the original one!
To make 4 servings of this delicious risotto you’ll need:
- 350 gr.carnaroli or arborio rice (do not use basmati!)
- 250/300 gr butternut squash
- 1/2 onion
- 100 gr. porcini mushrooms (fresh or frozen)
- olive oil
- salt
- pepper
- nutmeg (to taste)
- cinammon (to taste)
1. Preheat your oven to 200/220°C. Halve the butternut and remove the seeds, don’t peel it! Massage it with some olive oil, place it on a roasting tray, season it with salt and pepper and bake for 40 minutes, or until it’s softened and caramelised on top. Let it cool and then, using a spoon, scoop the deliciousness and put aside. Don’t throw away the skin.
2. Bring to a boil some water (1 litre), add salt, the butternut squash skin and the bottom part of the half onion. This part is called “basal plate”, it has a lot of flavour but I never use it in my soffritto (sautéed onion), so with these two ingredients you are making your vegetable stock! If you have carrots and celery on hand, add them, they’ll make our broth more flavourful.
3. Sauté the onion with a teaspoon of olive oil (I use a rock non-stick fry pan, so I don’t need much oil. If you haven’t got one, you can use some water to soften the onion and then add the oil at the very end and cook for some more minutes. This is an healthy version of soffritto), then add the porcini mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Sauté until the mushrooms are fully cooked (cooking time changes if you use fresh porcini or frozen ones).
4. Put the rice into a pan and toast it (I’m not using any fat in this process), then add the butternut squash and mix well, in this way you are mushing and combining it with the rice. Add the sautéed porcini and 3 spoonfull of veggie stock, cook over a medium heat and stir until the stock is absorbed. Add again the hot stock and keep on stirring. Repeat the process until your risotto is fully cooked (through this process the rice realeases its starch giving your risotto a super creamy texture) .
5. Season to taste. You can also add some nutmeg and cinnamon.
…and your risotto is ready! Healthy, yummy and super creamy!
If you want to make it richer (but less healty, of course!), you can add some butter and grated Parmigiano Reggiano (never ever use “parmesan” or other fakes!)
Bon apetit! 🙂
M.