Risotto is one of those dishes that seemed far beyond my reach when I first started teaching myself to cook. After much thought and recipe reading, I rolled up my sleeves and gave it a go. To my pleasant surprise it was actually a very simple and relaxing encounter! Risotto, like many other recipes, takes patience. It insists that you keep a close eye on the pot, stirring frequently and testing the texture of the rice as you go. It responds well to most flavor enhancers and arborio rice quickly found a place on my pantry standards list. I look in our vegetable drawer and go from there, allowing convenience and experimentation with this classic, elegant dish.
Toss the butternut squash with olive oil, kosher salt and pepper. Stick in the oven for 30 minutes, tossing once, midway.
To begin any risotto you will need butter, olive oil, onion or shallot, and garlic. I diced one half of an onion and two cloves garlic. Some recipes call for shallots instead of onions. I always have an onion in my pantry so that is typically what I reach for, but shallots will provide a softer onion flavor and are a lovely addition. While you are prepping the ingredients and getting the risotto started, put four cups of chicken stock in a sauce pan to warm.
Heat one tbs. olive oil and one tbs. butter in a pan on medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute until opaque, about five minutes. Turn the heat down a bit if you need to – you don’t want the garlic to burn.
Next, add the arborio rice – one cup. Mix the rice with the onions and garlic and let toast lightly. It helps bring out the flavor of the rice itself. Do this for about three minutes.
Now add a half of a cup of white wine (you can skip straight to the stock if you prefer). Stir and allow the rice to absorb the wine. At this point I also added a pinch of saffron. My Mom brought it back for me from Istanbul and I thought it would pair nicely with the butternut squash. Stir the wine into the risotto until it has reduced by half. This should take about three minutes.
The rest is quite simple – add warm stock to the rice and cook on medium-low, stirring frequently, as the rice slowly soaks up the liquid and becomes tender. I add two ladle-fulls at a time and repeat when most of the stock has been absorbed and the mixture looks like the photo below. This can take anywhere from six to eight minutes and you will go through three to three and a half cups of stock
Once the rice is tender and al dente (has a slight bight to it – not mushy) add the butternut squash and a tbs of butter. Stir to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.
While the butter in the risotto is melting heat some butter, olive oil and two cloves of garlic cut in half in a small saute pan on medium-high heat. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the shrimp and add them to the pan, cooking for one minute on each side until pink. They really don’t need long at all and are very easy to overcook. The garlic in the pan will infuse the oil and the shrimp giving it a nice undertone of garlic without overpowering the delicate shrimp.
Finish the risotto with a generous grating of parmesan cheese (one half of a cup to three quarters of a cup) and a handful of chopped parsley. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper if necessary. Plate, topping with the warm shrimp. Then take a moment to sit back and be impressed with yourself – you just made risotto!
- medium butternut squash, one inch dice
- one tbs olive oil, divided
- one quarter tsp kosher salt
- one quarter tsp fresh ground black pepper
- one half of a medium onion, diced
- two cloves garlic, minced
- four cups low-sodium chicken stock
- two tbs unsalted butter, divided
- one cup arborio rice
- one half cup white wine
- one pinch saffron
- salt and pepper to taste
- three quarters of a cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- one half cup chopped parsley
- one tsp unsalted butter
- one tsp olive oil
- two cloves garlic, sliced in half
- three quarters of a pound shrimp, shells removed
- salt and pepper
