How about a perfect Fall dish for Winter?! Butternut Squash Risotto is it. Even though it is definitely Winter here in the Midwest, today we will focus on Fall flavors!
This was actually pretty easy, though time-consuming, to make. To start, you’ll need to peel and seed the squash. Dice it into pieces (the smaller the piece, the faster it cooks). I steamed the squash in the vegetable steamer for a bit before baking it in the oven, just to speed up the process and soften it up.
While your squash is cooking, you can dice up a red onion, some shallots, and some garlic. I really dislike chopping onions. My eyes water terribly. I always try to con Mr. FBBQ into doing it for me. This time was a no-go. If you know any good tricks to stop my eyes from watering, please let me know! I’ve tried putting a wet paper towel nearby. That helps to some degree, but isn’t foolproof.
Add the mixture of onion/shallots/garlic to a saucepan and cook it thoroughly. Add salt and pepper to taste.
You’ll also want to start your rice. You can use your choice of rice. I went with Arborio rice, as it’s excellent for risottos. Cook the rice in Vegetable Broth until the rice is soft. The rice is the base for this dish.
Once you are done cooking everything, you can layer the squash on top of the rice and onion/garlic/shallot mix.
Now for the fancy part, Balsamic Vinegar Syrup. According to the récipe, cook about a half-cup of Balsamic Vinegar in a saucepan over medium heat for about 8-10 minutes. It’ll slowly thicken. As it cools, it will thicken more. Well, this was not a lie. It thickened so much it was stuck to the pan and had to be reheated to try to turn it to liquid again. Even then, it was not “pourable” (as in, pour it on top of the dish for flavor). Rather, it was a sticky, chunky, syrupy mess. Tasted good though! Like Balsamic Vinegar candy.
I convinced Mr. FBBQ to try some of this dish as well. I think he liked it, evidenced by the empty bowl left sink-side (not where it belongs).
