Roasted Butternut Squash Risotto with Sage
Today I am back with another squash recipe and I have partnered with the guys at Hello Fresh. In all honesty, I have always been a little skeptical about recipe subscription boxes, are the ingredients seasonal? Are you tied in to a contract? Etc. But after doing a lot of research in to the brand, I was impressed. You can actually choose what goes into your box an with it being a rolling weekly subscription, you can cancel at any time. I think it's a super great idea if you are going away and won't have any food or muster to think about what to eat. They also simplify busy lives, as much as I adore food shopping, sometimes something this convenient would really benefit me.
After having access to the entire recipe catalogue to choose what to make, I can confirm that the variety of recipes is great. I chose this butternut squash risotto with sage in the end and guys, I wasn't disappointed in the slightest. Wow, it is delicious. I mean I have always really loved risotto, seafood is my favourite. But this is creamy, fragrant and sweet. I appreciate that risotto is a labour of love, one for the weekend maybe? But I can truly say, you won't be disappointed. I will most certainly be making this again.
To get £10 off your first Hell Fresh box click here.Serves: 2Prep time: 10 minsCook time: 25 minsTotal time: 35 mins
INGREDIENTS
- 1 butternut squash
- Bunch of fresh sage
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 onion
- Vegetable stock cube
- 750ml water
- 175g arborio rice (risotto rice)
- 30g unsalted butter
- 40g hard Italian cheese
DIRECTIONS
- Preheat your oven to 220°C. Peel the butternut squash, then halve lengthways and scoop out the seeds. Chop into 2cm chunks. Pick the sage leaves from their stalks and finely chop (discard the stalks). Mix the squash and the sage leaves together on a baking tray with a glug of oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Roast on the top shelf of your oven until crispy, 25-30 mins.
- Peel and grate the garlic (or use a garlic press). Halve, peel and chop the onion into ½cm pieces. Pour the water (amount specified in the ingredient list) into a large saucepan. Bring to the boil on medium-high heat and stir in the vegetable stock pot.
- Heat half the butter and a glug of oil in another large saucepan on medium heat. Add the onion, stir well and cook until soft, 5 mins. Add the garlic, stir and cook for 1 minute more. Add the rice, stir and cook until slightly translucent, 2 mins. If you happen to have a white wine, add half a glass to the pan. Let it bubble for 1 minute. If you don’t have any wine, don’t worry – just move on to step 4.
- Add a ladleful of the stock to the rice and stir. Once the rice has absorbed the stock, add another ladleful and continue to stir. Continue adding stock and stirring regularly, until all the stock has been absorbed by the rice. This should take 20-25 mins.
- The risotto is ready when the rice is ‘al dente’. TIP: ‘Al dente’ simply means the rice is cooked through but has a tiny bit of firmness left in the middle. Once ready, remove from the heat. Add three-quarters of both the squash and the hard Italian cheese and the remaining butter. Taste and add salt and black pepper if you feel it needs it.
- Serve the risotto in bowls with a sprinkling of the remaining cheese and topped with the rest of the squash chunks. If you have some good quality olive oil (or decadent truffle oil!) drizzle a little over the top. Enjoy!
