Butternut squash, sage and mascarpone risotto

Butternut squash, sage and mascarpone risotto

So recently I made a butternut squash and sage lasagne, I had some ingredients left over so rather than waste them I thought I would make a risotto as I always have plenty of arborio rice around. It’s a cheap dish to make and very tasty, again I would say make sure you use fresh sage I know it may not always be easy to find in supermarkets but you will notice the difference. I also make a little butternut squash puree whilst it is cooking and stir that into it, it is not essential but I think it just brings out the taste of the squash more and also makes it a bit sweeter and those people that know me know I have a sweet tooth. I know This recipe is basically using the same ingredients as the last one I put up but I was making it so I thought I may as well take some pictures and share it with you guys as it’s a great risotto.

Ingredients, for risotto : (Serves 4-6)

1 white onion diced

1 clove of garlic finely chopped

1kg butternut squash peeled and chopped into small chunks

300g arborio rice

1 small glass of white wine

1 ½ ltr vegetable stock

A small bunch of sage chopped

50g mascarpone

30g parmesan freshly grated

50g butter

Salt and pepper

For puree:

½ small butternut squash stem cut off seeds removed

1 tsp. butter

1 tsp. brown sugar

1 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. honey

½ tsp. cinnamon

To garnish,

Wild rocket

Cracked black pepper

Parmesan shavings

Seeds of butternut squash roasted with salt, paprika and cumin

Pre heat the oven to 200c and prepare the squash for puree, lay on a tray flesh side up and put a splash of oil, plus the butter and the sugar and roast for 45 minutes or until the squash is soft enough to scoop out of skin and puree in blender. Once it has reached this stage, put it in a food blender and add honey, nutmeg and cinnamon. If it’s a bit thick just add some melted butter, this can also be done before you make the risotto and kept back or even used with other dishes, I personally think it goes really well with pork belly. 

It is optional but you can put the seeds in oven sprinkled with paprika, cumin and a pinch of salt too and use them as a tasty garnish if you want. They will take about 20 minutes to cook.

To make the risotto heat a large pan with some oil and butter, it is important to use a large pan as the risotto will expand when it is cooking by quite a bit. Once the pan is hot put in the onion and garlic and put onto a medium heat, then add the butternut squash.

Keep stirring it for about 5 minutes then add the arborio rice, it is important to stay with risotto and not leave it too long as it sticks very easily so keep stirring it off the sides and moving it about, if it is cooking a bit fast just turn the heat down a bit then add the white wine and stir until it has reduced down.

One ladle at a time add the vegetable stock and once it has reduced add another and so on until the rice is cooked but still slightly firm to the bite, adding the sage roughly halfway through cooking.

Once cooked, add the puree, the mascarpone and the grated parmesan stir through until hot, check seasoning and finish with stirring the butter through it. Like many of my dishes it isn’t the healthiest but its tasty and a good treat.

Dish up and garnish with fresh rocket, parmesan shavings, seeds and cracked black pepper and serve with warm bread, I used Tesco Mediterranean bread.

Thank you for reading :)