Butternut squash & spinach risotto with crispy sage
Risotto is the perfect comfort food and it’s so versatile in terms of flavours you can never get bored of it. I love the combination of squash, sage and feta here, it’s creamy, sweet and salty, which works so well. Although my kids aren’t massive squash fans they really like this risotto, ok so they pick out the pieces of squash, but as I’ve mashed some in they can’t avoid eating it altogether! I topped my son’s with crispy bacon to keep him happy and if you serve with garlic ciabatta as well I don’t think you’re going to get too many complaints!
Ingredients
Serves 4
½ large butternut squash (approx 800g unpeeled)
10-12 sage leaves
30g unsalted butter
1 onion, finely chopped
1 stick celery, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, grated
150ml white wine or 100ml sherry or vermouth
350g risotto rice
1-1.2L vegetable stock
30g parmesan, finely grated
1 tsp sea salt
3 handfuls spinach leaves
Approx 100g feta, crumbled
Method
Preheat the oven to 180ºc. Chop the squash into 2cm chunks and put on a large baking tray, drizzle with ½ tbsp olive oil, mix well and spread out. Sprinkle with sea salt. Roast for 20 minutes and then turn and put back in for a further 20 until browned on at least two sides.
Leave the squash on the oven tray, mash half with a fork.
Heat ½ tbsp olive oil in a small frying pan, next add the sage leaves and cook for about a minute on each side. They should turn a little darker, but not brown. Place on a piece of kitchen roll to absorb the oil. They’ll crisp up as they cool.
Warm the stock on the hob or microwave.
Heat 20g of butter and ½ tbsp olive oil in a wide low-sided pan, add the onions and celery, cooking gently for 15 minutes until soft, but not browned.
Next add the rice, stirring well, after about a minute it should look slightly translucent at the edges.
Then turn up the heat and pour in the wine or Sherry. Allow the harsh alcohol taste to bubble off and once the rice has absorbed the rest of the wine (about 2 minutes) start adding the warm stock. I usually pour in a ladle or about 100ml at a time.
Next add the mashed squash and keep adding the stock slowly, each time it is absorbed, pour in another ladle, stirring regularly.
After 10-12 minutes add the squash chunks and continue pouring in the stock for another 8 minutes.
Check the rice is cooked (it should still have a little bite to it) and then stir in the spinach, 10g of butter, 30g parmesan and the salt. Mix well and allow the spinach to wilt for a minute.
Crumble a sage leaf and feta or grated parmesan on top.
Serve with another couple of whole sage leaves, garlic ciabatta and a green salad.
Tip
A note about stock - if I’m using a cube then I will double the amount of water recommended on the pack, so for this recipe I just used one cube for one litre of water. Otherwise you’ll end up tasting the stock cube rather than it being a savoury back note.
I don’t always want to open a bottle of wine just for cooking, so I keep a bottle of Sherry or Vermouth in the cupboard to use for risotto. It doesn’t go off like wine, so you can just use a glass as and when you need it.
To make the risotto vegan, you could use non-dairy butter and add a tablespoon of nutritional yeast and or a little oat cream instead of cheese. Top with toasted pine nuts or pumpkin seeds.
I use a Microplane or fine grater for the cheese and garlic.
Cook the squash the day before to get ahead.