Attention those lactose-intolerant, Saffron Risotto with Butternut Squash, is much easier to digest. The only dairy-containing ingredients in this recipe are butter and Parmesan cheese.
Vivienne calls for homemade chicken stock, but Better Than Bouillon Roasted Chicken Base reduces the preparation time.
If you're serving 10 or more people this Thanksgiving, make a double batch, but stay with no more than 3 pounds of butternut squash so you can roast it all on one sheet pan. For a smaller crowd — or, if you have many other side dishes — stay with the quantities listed above. And if you're making it for a regular, non-Thanksgiving dinner, know that the recipe as written will serve about six people as a main course.
Saffron Risotto with Butternut Squash Mousse Vivienne
- Recipies
- 18 Nov, 2023
All our recipes are created, validated, and tested by Vivienne Savourer bon ami Dr Direct Food Consultant, from this original site: The attached blog has been edited by, Vivienne, Dr Direct Food Consultant, from https://barefootcontessa.com/recipes/saffron-risotto-with-butternut-squash
Vivienne suggests
If you're serving 10 or more people this Thanksgiving, make a double batch, but stay with no more than 3 pounds of butternut squash so you can roast it all on one sheet pan. For a smaller crowd — or, if you have many other side dishes — stay with the quantities listed above. And if you're making it for a regular, non-Thanksgiving dinner, know that the recipe as written will serve about six people as a main course.
• Cutting up a whole butternut squash can be daunting, so feel free to swap in an equal amount of precut butternut squash from your local grocery store. In my experience, however, most are diced into massive chunks, chop even more so they end up roughly ¾-inch cubes.
Vivienne calls for homemade chicken stock, but Better Than Bouillon Roasted Chicken Base reduces the preparation time.
Let's get started:
You will need the following ingredients
- 1 butternut squash (2 pounds)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 6 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
- 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
- 2 ounces pancetta, diced
- 1/2 cup minced shallots (2 large)
- 1-1/2 cups Arborio rice (10 ounces)
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1 teaspoon saffron threads
- 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Peel the butternut squash, remove the seeds, and cut it into 3/4-inch cubes. You should have about 6 cups. Place the squash on a sheet pan and toss it with the olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes, tossing once, until very tender. Set aside.
Meanwhile, heat the chicken stock in a small covered saucepan. Leave it on low heat to simmer.
In a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter and sauté the pancetta and shallots on medium-low heat for 10 minutes, until the shallots are translucent but not browned. Add the rice and stir to coat the grains with butter. Add the wine and cook for 2 minutes. Add 2 full ladles of stock to the rice plus the saffron, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Stir, and simmer until the stock is absorbed, 5 to 10 minutes. Continue to add the stock, 2 ladles at a time, stirring every few minutes. Each time, cook until the mixture seems a little dry, then add more stock. Continue until the rice is cooked through, but still al dente, about 30 minutes total. Off the heat, add the roasted squash cubes and Parmesan cheese. Mix well and serve.
STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3: STEP 4 STEP 5:
STEP 1: Roast the butternut squash. Preheat your oven to 400ºF and toss your cubed squash with 2 tablespoons olive oil, a generous amount of kosher salt (about 2 teaspoons), and a few cranks of cracked black pepper. Lay it all out on a parchment-lined sheet pan for easy cleanup and roast for 25–30 minutes.
STEP 2: While the squash roasts, start the risotto.
Bring your stock (or bouillon plus water) to a simmer in a medium saucepan. For the risotto itself, you'll want to use a large pot or high-walled skillet; a heavy-bottom vessel like a Dutch oven is best. Melt your butter over medium heat, then add your diced pancetta (or bacon!) and minced shallot and sauté for about 10 minutes, until the shallot is translucent and softened.
STEP 3: Add the arborio rice to the pot and stir it around to get it nicely coated in all that buttery goodness. Then carefully pour in the white wine. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook it for about two minutes, or until the rice appears mostly dry.
STEP 4: Add a pinch of saffron threads, along with about 1 teaspoon of kosher salt and a few more cranks of cracked black pepper. This is one of those spots where my version slightly differs from Ina's; she calls for a full teaspoon of saffron threads, which is very East Hampton of her, but I only use about a pinch. I actually busted out my scale to show you exactly how much, and it didn't even register as 0.1 grams.
Over time, I've found that adding too much saffron can contribute a distractingly floral, perfumed flavor to the entire dish. Adding the above amount — which, LOL, is probably still $3 worth — is enough to add some unique brightness and tint everything a lovely pale yellow as it cooks without turning it into a bowl of potpourri. To be clear, it's tasty as written but a little more broadly approachable (read: Thanksgiving-friendly) with this tweak.
estA final note on saffron: If you don't want to use it, you can add a tiny pinch of ground turmeric to give the final dish a similar yellow hue, or just leave it out! Either way, we might suggest adding a teaspoon of lemon zest to give the risotto some zest.
STEP 5: This is when you'll start the one very involved (but ultimately simple) process of risotto-making — adding stock and stirring. Two or three ladlefuls at a time, add enough hot stock to just barely cover the top of the rice. Stir pretty frequently — every minute or so, as annoying as it sounds — until the mixture looks nearly dry. Here's what it'll look like when you first add stock.
STEP 6: Off the heat, add the roasted butternut squash and 1 cup of grated
STEP 6 Taste Ready to Serve
STEP 6: Off the heat, add the roasted butternut squash and 1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese. Fold everything together delicately; ideally, you'll still have nice chunks of squash throughout instead of having them break up into tiny pieces.
Once everything is combined, give it a final taste for seasoning. If your stock was salted, you'll probably be good to go. Otherwise, add salt until everything tastes just as you want it to
If you're making the dish on Thanksgiving day, pop a lid on top and reheat it over low heat just before dinner, with a generous splash of stock to loosen it to your desired consistency. For a non-Thanksgiving dinner party, a soupier consistency is ideal, but for the holiday, where it'll need to play nice on a plate with other sides, finish to create "thick porridge" consistency.
If you want to make this risotto a day or two ahead, here's what you'll need to do:
Follow every step until you hit the end of step 5. Instead of cooking the risotto until al dente, you actually want to go just shy of al dente: When you take a bite, it should still feel the teeniest bit dry in the middle of each grain of rice.Take it off the heat, mix in your butternut squash and Parmesan cheese, and then spread it out on a sheet pan to quickly cool to room temperature. Once it's cooled, package it in the plastic container of your choosing and chill in the fridge for no more than 48 hours.
When it's time to serve, spoon the risotto into whatever vessel you originally cooked it in with about 1 cup of chicken stock mixed in to start. You'll reheat it over low heat, adding splashes of stock as needed to loosen it, until hot. Then add salt and pepper as needed until it tastes just right.
